Abacus Planning Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,036 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,985,000 after buying an additional 52,997 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $209,000. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd 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 increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade 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.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $162.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

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.