Prospector Partners LLC Buys 25,225 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Prospector Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,519 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,225 shares during the quarter. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stableford Capital II LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 14,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,525,000. Kelman Lazarov Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kelman Lazarov Inc. now owns 4,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 30,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,770,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, May 6th. HSBC upgraded 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 report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,593,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,311,364. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The firm has a market cap of $356.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $151.53 and its 200 day moving average is $155.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 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.