Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Position Increased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,438,453 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 158,873 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.5% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.10% of Johnson & Johnson worth $352,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rahlfs Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,462,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 56,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,542,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,961,000 after purchasing an additional 128,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 65,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,504,000 after purchasing an additional 41,075 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.91. The stock has a market cap of $368.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

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.