Heritage Wealth Advisors Purchases 15,778 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 326,628 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,778 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 2.3% of Heritage Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $47,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $241,000. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. now owns 64,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,261,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,093,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC now owns 127,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,484,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 9,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $161.14 on Wednesday. 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 has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $388.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $157.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.14.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.