Allstate Corp Buys 69,606 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Allstate Corp raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 4,270.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,236 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 69,606 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 6,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Alerus Financial NA raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 54,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Slagle Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 14,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $911,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.5 %

JNJ traded up $2.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $166.16. 5,793,396 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,037,503. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $158.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $400.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Johnson & Johnson's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.33.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.