Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 547,714 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,187,082 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 547,714 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,630,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after purchasing an additional 111,570 shares during the last quarter. ASB Consultores LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.2% during the third quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 5,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 6,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James cut their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $165.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $397.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $152.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.19.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.