City National Bank of Florida MSD Purchases Shares of 2,426 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

City National Bank of Florida MSD acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock worth $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $153.17 on Thursday. 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 has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $368.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.79.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.88.

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.

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