Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Increases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 766,805 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 64,373 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $142,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MFA Wealth Services increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 3,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 150.2% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 14,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after acquiring an additional 8,501 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 67,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,568,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Kinloch Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 22,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,177,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, L2 Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 4,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total value of $5,527,477.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,769 shares in the company, valued at $6,540,469.77. This trade represents a 45.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total value of $1,508,287.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,598,700.17. The trade was a 21.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.6%

JNJ opened at $243.03 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $141.50 and a 12 month high of $251.71. The company has a market cap of $585.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $232.69 and a 200 day moving average of $207.13.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 28.46% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The business had revenue of $24.28 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $201.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.91.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.