Aviance Capital Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,507 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.8% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,356,359 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,040,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $166.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $152.95 and a 200 day moving average of $156.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.