United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 291,841 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,674 shares during the quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $42,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,339,878,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company's stock worth $1,698,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,458 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE JNJ traded up $3.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $157.42. The stock had a trading volume of 10,972,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,953,112. The company 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. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.03.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued 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 3.30%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 74.59%.

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.