Generali Investments Management Co LLC Buys New Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 23,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,354,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $164.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $395.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.25. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.