UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 2.5% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 16,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the third quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 33,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,162,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 58,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,122,000 after buying an additional 3,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $149.85 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $360.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $153.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.93.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.