8,194 Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Acquired by Ethos Financial Group LLC

Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 245,340,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,078,885,000 after buying an additional 2,815,655 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 141,886,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,178,548,000 after purchasing an additional 803,013 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,428,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,154,022,000 after purchasing an additional 805,831 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,189,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,046,449,000 after purchasing an additional 328,297 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 11,751,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,919,726,000 after purchasing an additional 310,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. UBS Group started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $164.00 price target on the stock. Atlantic Securities cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $179.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.00.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, insider James D. Swanson sold 1,062 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.66, for a total value of $164,248.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,191.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $158.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $159.70 and a 200-day moving average of $166.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $150.11 and a fifty-two week high of $183.35.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.17. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.13% and a net margin of 13.22%. The business had revenue of $24.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.67 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be issued a $1.19 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 22nd. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 94.56%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research and development, manufacture and sale of products in the health care field. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceutical, and MedTech. The Consumer Health segment includes products focused on personal healthcare used in the Skin Health/Beauty, Over-the-Counter medicines, Baby Care, Oral Care, Women’s Health and Wound Care markets.