Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Reduces Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,774 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,800 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 2.1% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $6,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $509,000. Associated Banc Corp boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 180,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Watershed Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $256,000. Argent Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 165,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $179.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $164.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Atlantic Securities lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $154.41 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $159.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.86. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $150.11 and a twelve month high of $183.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $401.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.17. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 36.13%. The firm had revenue of $24.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 99.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James D. Swanson sold 1,062 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.66, for a total transaction of $164,248.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,191.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research and development, manufacture and sale of products in the health care field. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceutical, and MedTech. The Consumer Health segment includes products focused on personal healthcare used in the Skin Health/Beauty, Over-the-Counter medicines, Baby Care, Oral Care, Women’s Health and Wound Care markets.