Tufton Capital Management Buys 171 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Tufton Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,105 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.6% of Tufton Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,359 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth approximately $225,040,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7,516.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,245,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,414 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9 %

JNJ stock opened at $165.23 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $168.85. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $150.90 and its 200-day moving average is $156.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $397.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents 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 corporate insiders.

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.