Jones Financial Companies Lllp Buys 106,802 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 30.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 456,747 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 106,802 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $66,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,968,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,744,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,006,371. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $152.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.19. The company has a market cap of $397.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.