LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 1,960 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,580 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. MRP Capital Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its stake 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 worth $301,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company's stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.50.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $153.66. 10,723,823 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,973,461. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.10. The stock has a market cap of $370.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. 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.