Vista Capital Partners Inc. Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,097 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 14.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,985,000 after purchasing an additional 52,997 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $209,000. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $213,000. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after purchasing an additional 111,570 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on JNJ. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $162.35 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $390.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.93 and its 200 day moving average is $155.88.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

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.