River Street Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

River Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,080 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.5% of River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 67,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,975,000 after buying an additional 5,327 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 88.9% during the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 175,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,049,000 after acquiring an additional 82,429 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 45,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,095,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 860,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,488,000 after purchasing an additional 20,528 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $147.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $356.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson 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.