Lincoln National Corp Lowers Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Lincoln National Corp reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,716 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $11,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,175 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 89.9% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,251,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,713,000 after buying an additional 1,065,880 shares during the period. abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 104.1% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,014,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,441 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2,264.8% during the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 822,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,139,000 after acquiring an additional 787,934 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,957,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,370,000 after acquiring an additional 719,472 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.6 %

JNJ stock opened at $149.85 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $360.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $153.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.93.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

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.