Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,434 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $29,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% in the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $149.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $360.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.93.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.