Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Bought by Bollard Group LLC

Bollard Group LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 96,825 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 47,958,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,456,643,000 after purchasing an additional 294,671 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,962,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,277,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,171,919,000 after purchasing an additional 3,849,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $4,609,399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 12,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,994,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,549,440. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider William Hait sold 14,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $2,528,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,747 shares in the company, valued at $15,092,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 12,465 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,994,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,549,440. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,163 shares of company stock worth $7,928,856 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $184.00 to $179.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. TheStreet upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given 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 an average target price of $171.44.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $160.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $150.11 and a 1-year high of $181.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 36.72%. The firm had revenue of $25.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Investors of record on Monday, August 28th will be issued a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 25th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.36%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Consumer Health segment provides skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR. CI:LABO, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; baby care products under the JOHNSON'S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; TYLENOL acetaminophen products; SUDAFED cold, flu, and allergy products; BENADRYL and ZYRTEC allergy products; MOTRIN IB ibuprofen products; NICORETTE smoking cessation products; and PEPCID acid reflux products.