National Pension Service Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,853,788 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,803 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.8% of National Pension Service's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned 0.16% of Johnson & Johnson worth $604,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,685,000 after buying an additional 15,490 shares in the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company's stock worth $11,758,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company's stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.0 %

JNJ stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $149.91. 5,710,566 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,630,414. The company has a market capitalization of $360.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. Johnson & Johnson's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 29.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.