Allstate Corp Buys 69,606 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Allstate Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4,270.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 71,236 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 6,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 54,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,836,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Slagle Financial LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 14,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,029,000 after buying an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $911,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $158.68 and a 200 day moving average of $156.21.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.