Sold last of Ventas, sold small position in J&J

Quick update, I've been doing some selling. Last week I sold the remainder of my Ventas (NYSE: VTR) shares. Shares just kept getting higher and higher, and I had some very substantial gains, so I took them. I also did the same thing with a small position I held in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

Here is what I plan to do: I plan to leave about half of the proceeds in cash, and reinvest the other half, with some additional monthly contributions, into Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). It was either Phillips 66 or Schlumberger. I haven't taken this action yet, however.

Raising Cash, Selling Dead Weight

Over the last two weeks I sold a couple of things. First, as I mentioned in my articles, I sold my small position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). It's getting well above its average valuation and I wanted to lock in those gains.

I also sold half of my position in Aflac (NYSE: AFL) in a different account which I manage. I'd been long Aflac for several years, and as the company nears its ten-year average valuation, I've lightened up some and raised cash. I am still long Aflac and, in fact, I think it might have some more gains ahead of it.

I've also been selling some "Dead weight" in legacy energy positions. I got rid of a tiny position in Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE: KMI) which was lingering in an IRA which I manage for myself. Glad to be rid of that. Also, I sold a legacy position in Mid-Con Energy Partners (NYSE: MCEP). Frankly, I don't believe things are looking too well for that name if crude oil is going to remain in the 40s long-term, which looks increasingly likely. I may put some of the remaining capital into Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ), or I may just hold onto the cash.

In this environment I am valuing cash more and more, and raising it where I can. There are some good values out there, such as AbbVie, British Telecom, Williams Partners and IBM, but I personally do not have much dry powder, so I am inclined to hold onto the cash I have at this point.

Added shares of Pacific Coast Oil Trust, Johnson & Johnson

Last week I added shares of both Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Pacific Coast Oil Trust (NYSE: ROYT).

Let me begin with my rationale for buying the latter. I added shares of ROYT because prices at $4 per share, the distribution yield on that should be around 30% when Brent recovers to $80. I say when, not if. I calculated that by taking the distribution ROYT paid when Brent was still at $80. ROYT has about 13 years left in its reserve life, not including any new steamflood wells its parent company drills (in which ROYT would get a 25% revenue interest). The yield isn't much right now because of low oil prices, but I am willing to continue waiting on this one.

As for J&J, I can get a decent price on it so I did. As I've mentioned in previous journals, I need added diversification away from just energy. J&J is a good, dividend-focused way by which to do that. The yield is 2.8%, which is not bad, and the company trades at 16.5 trailing earnings. Again, not terrible. I'm willing to pick some up, and I did. Looking forward to those annual dividend increases. 

Opened a Position in Johnson & Johnson

Opened a tiny position in Johnson & Johnson on Friday, for my personal IRA account. I used to be in this stock way back in 2008 when I started investing. It's not the great value it was back then, but I do really like the CEO and management team right now. They're doing very well, and the stock is down double digits over the past few months. It's still a good bit below its average P/E ratio and a 2.8% dividend isn't too bad. I need further diversification and this is how I decided to get it.