Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 138,706 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $20,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,985,000 after acquiring an additional 52,997 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth about $209,000. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after purchasing an additional 111,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 97,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,798,000 after buying an additional 1,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective 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. 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on 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, Raymond James decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $156.20 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $147.87 and its 200 day moving average is $155.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.