Northern Trust Corp Purchases 3,363,235 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.6% of Northern Trust Corp's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.28% of Johnson & Johnson worth $4,456,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company's stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company's stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $69,859,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company's stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.3 %

JNJ stock opened at $154.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $371.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.80. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on JNJ. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.

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