Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,435,359 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 595,290 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.7% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,521,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Family Legacy Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 32,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,593,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 65,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,528,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 54,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,876,000 after acquiring an additional 10,854 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,323,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,465,000 after purchasing an additional 74,465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.63 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

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.