Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 48.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,108,370 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,011,533 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 1.0% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $449,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,187,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,630,216,000 after acquiring an additional 547,714 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, 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 value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $153.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.84. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $368.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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, beating 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

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.