Ledyard National Bank Grows Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ledyard National Bank boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,278 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 16,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 135,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,161,000 after acquiring an additional 5,877 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.0% during the third quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 16,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 36,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 5,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evanson Asset Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 13,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. HSBC raised 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 report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $149.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $359.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.19 and a 200-day moving average of $155.02. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.