Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 5,420 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,692 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,420 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $16,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smart Money Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 3,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 2,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 14,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 9,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $148.72 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $175.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.70 and a 200 day moving average of $154.97. The company has a market capitalization of $357.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.