LPL Financial LLC Buys 248,601 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,962,861 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 248,601 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.16% of Johnson & Johnson worth $573,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on JNJ. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.40 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $156.99 and its 200 day moving average is $156.25. 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 has a market capitalization of $393.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share 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 net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend 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 presently 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.