Woodline Partners LP Boosts Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 54.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 478,783 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 168,616 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $69,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victrix Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,326,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 142,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,580,000 after buying an additional 27,035 shares during the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 3,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,105,000. Finally, Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,605,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $152.44 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.06 and its 200-day moving average is $153.80. The company has a market cap of $366.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.88.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.