B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 13,504 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,679 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,504 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $12,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $742,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $39,047,000. Garde Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 2,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $291,000. Finally, Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,948,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ traded up $0.31 on Tuesday, hitting $153.25. 6,979,932 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,961,247. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $155.05 and a 200-day moving average of $153.65. The stock has a market cap of $368.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

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.