Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 40.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,024 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,794 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 4,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $825,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 328,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,471,000 after buying an additional 8,458 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,008,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,843,000 after buying an additional 278,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Hutchinson acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $272,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $162.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.34. 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 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $392.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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 the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 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 trade represents a 25.00 % 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.

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.