CWA Asset Management Group LLC Sells 14,827 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lowered its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,478 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,827 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.9% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $17,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,064,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,763 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,858,543,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $166.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $143.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,673,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,473,532. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.28. The stock has a market cap of $345.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.51. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $142.75 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 71.78%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.