By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.6% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $16,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after buying an additional 7,110 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after buying an additional 9,309 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,667,000 after buying an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.
Get Our Latest Analysis on JNJ
Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.7 %
Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $156.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $147.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $168.85.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.
Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson
In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Johnson & Johnson Company Profile
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.
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