South Plains Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 10,069 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,456,000. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.1% of South Plains Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in 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 period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.09. 5,973,317 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,879,761. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.67. The stock has a market cap of $375.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. On average, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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 $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.