Lafayette Investments Inc. Raises Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 49,331 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 1.9% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. First Citizens Financial Corp grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.1% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 8,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 190.5% in the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,494,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,843,000 after purchasing an additional 980,297 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the third quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 18,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,937,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $838,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $148.53 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $357.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 29.68%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.