Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Holdings Boosted by Vertex Planning Partners LLC

Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,390 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth approximately $721,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 296,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,970,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,706,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $158.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.23.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. Raymond James reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.