BNP Paribas Buys 4,182 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

BNP Paribas increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,268 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,182 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas' holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,723,000 after buying an additional 329,473 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,424,675 shares of the company's stock worth $926,438,000 after purchasing an additional 775,490 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 27,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,948,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Market Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 7,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business'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 $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JNJ. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $1.11 on Monday, hitting $155.01. 5,463,601 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,875,603. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $158.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.47. The company has a market cap of $372.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 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 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.