M Holdings Securities Inc. Takes Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.2% of M Holdings Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Banco de Sabadell S.A grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 14,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,533,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $151,535,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,537,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 20,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This 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.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.40 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $393.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results 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 during 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 revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. 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 is presently 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

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.