Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,528,010 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 283,544 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.19% of Johnson & Johnson worth $654,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company's stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company's stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of JNJ stock traded up $3.51 on Friday, hitting $157.42. 10,972,370 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,953,112. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $159.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

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.