Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 194,753 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $28,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on JNJ shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $166.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.24. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. 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.