ABC Arbitrage SA Buys New Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,359 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $225,040,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,748 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $156.20 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $147.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.95. The company has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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 34.35% 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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.