Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $985.14 Million Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,285,184 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,822 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 0.8% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.26% of Johnson & Johnson worth $985,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Balentine LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 83,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,126,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,212,000. Mckinley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mckinley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,824,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC now owns 5,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, May 6th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America decreased 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 note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $151.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $363.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $151.88 and its 200 day moving average is $155.12.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 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.