Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 498,647 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.3% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,664,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,061,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,112,000 after purchasing an additional 26,982 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,436,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,301,000 after acquiring an additional 12,867 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,396,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,198,000 after acquiring an additional 200,193 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,306,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,726,000 after acquiring an additional 120,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,957,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,370,000 after acquiring an additional 719,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $146.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $352.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.30.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 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 the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 29.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.