Baird Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,930,324 shares of the company's stock after selling 173,517 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 1.1% of Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Johnson & Johnson worth $568,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company's stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $156.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $375.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $158.85 and a 200-day moving average of $154.61. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. 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. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.

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