Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 129.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,349 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% during the third quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 37.8% during the third quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Seven investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $146.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $352.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.30. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

About Johnson & Johnson

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.