UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 506 shares during the quarter. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th 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 bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $154.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $373.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.92. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 57.84%.

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.