W Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

W Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,943 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.0% of W Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. W Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064,175 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 89.9% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,251,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,880 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 104.1% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,014,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,441 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2,264.8% during the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 822,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,139,000 after buying an additional 787,934 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,957,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,370,000 after buying an additional 719,472 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s 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 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. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $148.95 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.97. The company has a market capitalization of $358.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.