Sterling Financial Planning Inc. Sells 742 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,329 shares of the company’s stock after selling 742 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 14.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,985,000 after purchasing an additional 52,997 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $209,000. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $213,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,980,000 after purchasing an additional 111,570 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $162.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $390.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. 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 has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.88.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.