Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 145,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,821,000. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 0.5% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, April 15th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $147.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. 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 data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.