Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 12,476 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 295,400 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,476 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 0.8% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $46,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,685,000 after acquiring an additional 15,490 shares during the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,758,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,458,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. 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 report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $146.14 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $155.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

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 during 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 business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.