By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Avestar Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,491 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,599 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,359 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $225,040,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Barclays raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.67.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Johnson & Johnson
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.
Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance
Shares of JNJ stock opened at $156.20 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.96. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $168.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.
Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 74.59%.
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.
Featured Articles
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Johnson & Johnson Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Johnson & Johnson and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.