ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 56.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,167 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35,340 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 2.3% of ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,685,000 after buying an additional 15,490 shares during the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the third quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,758,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,458,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $148.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $358.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

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.