Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC decreased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 70,262 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,373 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 2.5% of Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $163.63 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $158.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.07. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on JNJ. Raymond James lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

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.