Kennedy Capital Management LLC Buys 17,965 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,017 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,965 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $18,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,766,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,975 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.7 %

JNJ opened at $149.02 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $159.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month 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.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson 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.