AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 313,672 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,472,635 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 313,672 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.6% of AQR Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Johnson & Johnson worth $500,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $156.09. The company had a trading volume of 5,973,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,882,064. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.05 and a 200 day moving average of $154.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.