Auxier Asset Management Has $10.48 Million Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Auxier Asset Management reduced its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 72,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 1.6% of Auxier Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $153.12 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $155.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a market capitalization of $368.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Equities analysts forecast 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 is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by 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.