Bellevue Group AG Boosts Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,557 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company's stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $155.01. 5,463,601 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,875,604. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $158.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.47. The firm has a market cap of $372.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.