SFE Investment Counsel Boosts Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

SFE Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,636 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 37.8% in the third quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 216.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 380 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target 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. Seven investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.7 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $148.53 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.47. The company has a market capitalization of $357.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The company 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%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend 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.