ProShare Advisors LLC Has $241.70 Million Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,671,241 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 102,597 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Johnson & Johnson worth $241,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. BCS Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $560,000. Traveka Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 216.1% in the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 6,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 4,353 shares during the period. Grandview Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $1,099,000. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,313,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 69,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,068,000 after buying an additional 1,253 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock opened at $146.39 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $156.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $352.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. 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.

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