Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is Stamos Capital Partners L.P.'s 10th Largest Position

Stamos Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,480 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,580 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.9% of Stamos Capital Partners L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Stamos Capital Partners L.P.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,339,878,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company's stock worth $2,721,355,000 after buying an additional 1,729,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company's stock worth $1,698,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,458 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.72.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:JNJ traded up $3.51 on Thursday, hitting $157.42. The stock had a trading volume of 10,972,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,966,404. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The business's fifty day moving average is $159.40 and its 200 day moving average is $155.10. The company has a market cap of $379.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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