Rakuten Securities Inc. Grows Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 64.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,149 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $162.93 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $154.23 and its 200 day moving average is $156.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% 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 firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.