Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,281 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,128 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 1.4% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategent Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $324,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 311,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,120,000 after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the period. Exchange Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 2,418 shares during the period. Stack Financial Management Inc increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Stack Financial Management Inc now owns 113,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,382,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 117,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,999,000 after acquiring an additional 18,554 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partners cut their price objective 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 cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $165.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $397.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.06.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.