Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,002,622 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 211,099 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $144,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. R.H. Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,623,000. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $972,000. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 4,555 shares of the company's stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 24,335 shares of the company's stock worth $3,519,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 3,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Eleven 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, reaching $153.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,658,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,416,777. 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 has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $369.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50 day moving average is $155.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.80.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $21.89 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current 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 issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

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.