Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Buys 64,373 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 9.2%, purchasing 64,373 shares to hold 766,805 shares valued at about $142.18 million.
• Insiders have been sellers: 30,142 shares (roughly $7.36 million) were sold in the last 90 days, led by EVP Timothy Schmid (22,623 shares) and EVP Vanessa Broadhurst (6,197 shares), materially reducing their positions.
• Wall Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $235.91, and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.30 (annualized $5.20, yield ~2.1%).

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 766,805 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,373 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $142,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,392 shares of the company's stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the third quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 11,214 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the third quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 7,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrepid Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the third quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,785 shares of the company's stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Guggenheim increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.91.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total value of $5,527,477.59. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,540,469.77. This represents a 45.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total transaction of $1,508,287.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,598,700.17. This trade represents a 21.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,142 shares of company stock worth $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $243.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $585.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.13. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $141.50 and a 12-month high of $251.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.28 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 28.46%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company's pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.

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