Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by PineStone Asset Management Inc.

PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,959,872 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225,489 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 2.7% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $283,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after buying an additional 7,110 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $949,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $155.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $373.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners cut 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

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.