Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 297,850 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,490 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $46,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. 4J Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. My Personal CFO LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. My Personal CFO LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Brookmont Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Brookmont Capital Management now owns 14,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,328,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on JNJ shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $149.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.51. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.