Barings LLC Buys 781 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Barings LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 57.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,148 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,698,984,000 after buying an additional 1,660,458 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 24,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 4,665 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $320,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 53,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,779,000 after purchasing an additional 10,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 9,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $166.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.28. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

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.