LPL Financial LLC Buys 248,601 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,962,861 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 248,601 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $573,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, 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 JNJ stock opened at $163.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $156.99 and a 200 day moving average of $156.25. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, 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.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

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.