Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 11,573 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 321,765 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,573 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $46,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $154.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,886,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,623,269. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.78. The firm has a market cap of $372.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 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.