Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,715 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,620,000 after acquiring an additional 498,647 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,061,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,112,000 after purchasing an additional 26,982 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,436,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,301,000 after purchasing an additional 12,867 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,396,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,198,000 after purchasing an additional 200,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,306,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,726,000 after purchasing an additional 120,891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $146.14 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The company has a market capitalization of $352.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $155.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.29.

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 firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Raymond James upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

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.