Corton Capital Inc. Buys Shares of 1,416 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $416,000. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 47,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,877,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427 shares in the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,355,000. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 599,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,683,000 after buying an additional 6,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock opened at $157.23 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.49. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $378.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.82.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’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 value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 25.00 % 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.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.