ZEGA Investments LLC Acquires New Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease 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 that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.33.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $22.52 billion during 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%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.