Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,207,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 116,821 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.8% of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $174,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $152.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.75. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JNJ. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partners downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value 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. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.