J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Purchases 9,541 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,646 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,541 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $46,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,723,000 after buying an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 394.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 8,207 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,892 shares of the company's stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.1% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,765 shares of the company's stock worth $8,180,000 after purchasing an additional 4,640 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $2.40 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $155.35. The stock had a trading volume of 9,097,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,923,271. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $374.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $159.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.95.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.