Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,830 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,387 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $46,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock worth $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company'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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of JNJ traded up $1.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $151.37. 8,045,511 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,942,282. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.00. The firm has a market cap of $364.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 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.