Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 1,772,706 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.6% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.67% of Johnson & Johnson worth $33,666,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $35,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated 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 $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 currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $163.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.99 and a 200-day moving average of $156.25. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $393.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson 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.