MBL Wealth LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

MBL Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 26.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,546 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,025 shares during the period. MBL Wealth LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at approximately $890,000. Lakewood Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 6,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.1% in the first quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 13,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the first quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 7,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 25.0% during the first quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America cut their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.5 %

JNJ traded down $0.68 on Friday, hitting $146.14. 6,182,982 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,728,638. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.