Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,984,838 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,927 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $431,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,766,014,000 after buying an additional 1,171,975 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $154.54 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.80. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $371.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.