Atala Financial Inc Takes $353,000 Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,980,000 after acquiring an additional 111,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,199,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 185,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,036,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value 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 $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $162.93 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $154.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.38. The stock has a market cap of $392.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The business 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%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.