Edgar Lomax Co. VA Purchases 174,700 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Edgar Lomax Co. VA raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 85.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379,340 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 174,700 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 3.5% of Edgar Lomax Co. VA’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Edgar Lomax Co. VA’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $54,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MRP Capital Investments LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.82.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % 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 insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $157.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.49 and a 200-day moving average of $155.03. The firm has a market cap of $379.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. 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 has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

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.