Fred Alger Management LLC Buys 21,926 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 48.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,110 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,926 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:JNJ traded down $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $153.98. 6,519,728 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,900,231. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50-day moving average price is $157.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.29. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.82.

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.