Legal & General Group Plc Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,450,064 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 532,790 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.8% of Legal & General Group Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.81% of Johnson & Johnson worth $3,606,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 632.0% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 89,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,536,000 after buying an additional 77,000 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 130,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,769 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,383,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,994 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 1,234,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,638,000 after acquiring an additional 94,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,926,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,484,000 after acquiring an additional 151,707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total transaction of $1,508,287.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,700.17. This trade represents a 21.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total transaction of $5,527,477.59. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,769 shares in the company, valued at $6,540,469.77. This represents a 45.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 30,142 shares of company stock worth $7,360,528 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Loop Capital set a $220.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.87.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9%

JNJ opened at $242.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $584.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.34. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $141.50 and a 12 month high of $251.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $229.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.82.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.28 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 28.46% and a return on equity of 33.04%. On average, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.