Renaissance Technologies LLC Takes Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 921,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $133,267,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Canopy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 14,569 shares of the company's stock worth $2,107,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 3,594 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. U S Wealth Group LLC. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,069,000. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 55,262 shares of the company's stock worth $7,992,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,766,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,975 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of JNJ traded up $2.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $151.62. The company had a trading volume of 9,940,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,953,232. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.17. The stock has a market cap of $365.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.