8,776 Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Acquired by First Heartland Consultants Inc.

First Heartland Consultants Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,269,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $153.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $155.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.79. The firm has a market cap of $368.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.