Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Bought by Kensington Investment Counsel LLC

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,600 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.4% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of several research reports. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1 %

JNJ stock opened at $162.94 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a market capitalization of $392.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $155.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.