Gradient Investments LLC Sells 572 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Gradient Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 572 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Red Wave Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% during the second quarter. Red Wave Investments LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 3,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the third quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the third quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 1,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James D. Swanson sold 1,062 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.66, for a total transaction of $164,248.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,191.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $152.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $150.71 and a 1 year high of $186.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.88. The firm has a market cap of $396.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.54.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $23.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.90 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 35.76%. The company’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research and development, manufacture and sale of products in the health care field. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceutical, and MedTech. The Consumer Health segment includes products focused on personal healthcare used in the Skin Health/Beauty, Over-the-Counter medicines, Baby Care, Oral Care, Women’s Health and Wound Care markets.