Easterly Investment Partners LLC Raises Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,814 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,164 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.0% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $13,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on JNJ. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.33.

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Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.63. 5,760,266 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,625,268. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month 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 $158.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. 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.