Fisher Funds Management LTD Makes New Investment in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 173,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,956,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Lipe & Dalton lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 9,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 41,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,948,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 56,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,242,000 after acquiring an additional 22,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SAM Advisors LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. SAM Advisors LLC now owns 12,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $166.13 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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. The firm 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 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 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.