Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 14,179 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 28.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,213 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 14,179 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company's stock worth $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,064,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,763 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company's stock worth $2,968,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,748 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents 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 insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ traded up $2.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $162.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,540,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,073,381. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $148.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.90. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $168.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.52. 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 results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on JNJ. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.67.

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.