Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,207,363 shares of the company's stock after selling 116,821 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.8% of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.05% of Johnson & Johnson worth $174,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock worth $1,149,536,000 after acquiring an additional 4,559,147 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock worth $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock worth $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $152.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $366.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $155.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.75. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is presently 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.

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