Wealth Alliance Purchases 1,152 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wealth Alliance lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,887 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,962,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,609,399,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,189,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,046,449,000 after purchasing an additional 328,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 61.0% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,287,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,868,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,512 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’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 transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $147.91 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The company has a market capitalization of $356.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $156.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS 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 represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

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.