Bank of The West Decreases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

27 May 2020, 14:26 by Kim Johansen

Bank of The West reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 867 shares during the period. Bank of The West’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Advocacy Wealth Management Services LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Advocacy Wealth Management Services LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 50.8% during the first quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NWK Group Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. 68.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director William D. Perez purchased 500 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $127.69 per share, with a total value of $63,845.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,046,870.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

NYSE:JNJ opened at $144.56 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $109.16 and a fifty-two week high of $157.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.57.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.27. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.47% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 7.68 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a $1.01 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.54%.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Wells Fargo & Co raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $173.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target (down previously from $165.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $150.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, SVB Leerink reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $163.47.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the health care field worldwide. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices. The Consumer segment offers baby care products under the JOHNSON'S brand; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DABAO, JOHNSON'S Adult, LE PETITE MARSEILLAIS, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; over-the-counter medicines, including acetaminophen products under the TYLENOL brand; cold, flu, and allergy products under the SUDAFED brand; allergy products under the BENADRYL and ZYRTEC brands; ibuprofen products under the MOTRIN IB brand; and acid reflux products under the PEPCID brand.