Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 420,504 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,867 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $60,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,223,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,359 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,698,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,458 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,040,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $166.81 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $401.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.24. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

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.