CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 515,770 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,816,343 shares of the company's stock after selling 515,770 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.7% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.12% of Johnson & Johnson worth $407,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock worth $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,766,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.72.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $3.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $157.42. 10,972,370 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,953,112. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 74.59%.

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.