Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys 3,594 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,951 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $35,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $164.24 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.25. The company has a market cap of $395.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.