Advisors Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 170,267 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,007 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.5% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $162.94 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $392.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.26.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

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.