ZEGA Investments LLC Takes $945,000 Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

ZEGA Investments LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,980,000 after buying an additional 111,570 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after acquiring an additional 329,473 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,883,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $365,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2 %

JNJ stock opened at $163.40 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.99 and a 200-day moving average of $156.33. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

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

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.