Bell Bank Boosts Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Bell Bank increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,394 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $949,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9 %

JNJ stock opened at $163.81 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $149.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.88. The company has a market cap of $394.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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 company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% 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 year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.