Ethic Inc. Purchases 17,657 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 99,979 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,657 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $14,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JNJ. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $155.64 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.