Smart Money Group LLC Raises Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Smart Money Group LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,865 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,685,000 after buying an additional 15,490 shares during the period. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,758,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $1,458,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $148.72 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $175.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 29.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised 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, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.