Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $255.69 Million Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,768,019 shares of the company's stock after selling 56,209 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.07% of Johnson & Johnson worth $255,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of JNJ traded down $4.93 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $149.21. The stock had a trading volume of 6,185,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,898,645. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.18. The firm has a market cap of $359.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 posted 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. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday. Ten research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.