Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $9.27 Million Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,834 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,437 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.7% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson 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 value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $165.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $398.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for 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%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.