Strategy Asset Managers LLC Boosts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 57,606 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.6% of Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $163.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.