E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Has $4.10 Million Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 65.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,376 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,181 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 277,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,068,000 after purchasing an additional 11,902 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 33,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,821,000 after acquiring an additional 11,887 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 5,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 49,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,339,878,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now 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. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $166.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $401.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $152.95 and a 200 day moving average of $156.30. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.