UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 230 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 2.5% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $645,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 187,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the period. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 1,011,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,485,000 after purchasing an additional 25,646 shares during the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,270,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 134,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,028,000 after buying an additional 20,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $149.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $153.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.93. The stock has a market cap of $360.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

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.