ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $31.08 Million Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,306 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,041 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.6% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $31,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $618,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $367,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 131,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,608,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Symmetry Inc bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $146.82 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $155.47 and its 200-day moving average is $155.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53. 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 data 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. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 29.68%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 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 owned by company insiders.

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.