National Pension Service Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,586,490 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,836 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.6% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned about 0.19% of Johnson & Johnson worth $663,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $165.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $150.90 and its 200-day moving average is $156.06. The company has a market cap of $397.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. 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 $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.