Easterly Investment Partners LLC Increases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 91,814 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.0% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $13,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,698,000. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 5,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $755,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. LM Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. LM Advisors LLC now owns 12,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 4,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,635,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $161.64 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $158.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.18. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a market capitalization of $389.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 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.