American Money Management LLC Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

American Money Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,404 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,148 shares during the period. American Money Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after acquiring an additional 329,473 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $721,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.2% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 45,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,289,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,043,000 after buying an additional 750,315 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, 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 hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $163.63 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $158.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.13. The firm has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.