Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $3.07 Million Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,587 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $45,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $148.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $153.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.