Second Half Financial Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Second Half Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 28.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,331 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,979 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.1% of Second Half Financial Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Second Half Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company's stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $69,859,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company's stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $155.36. 5,799,419 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,920,029. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $159.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.76. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.