Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 348,444 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,810 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 1.1% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $54,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 858,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,591,000 after acquiring an additional 47,251 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 62,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,814,000 after acquiring an additional 8,038 shares in the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 198,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $146.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.