Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Purchases 6,760 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 38.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,118 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,760 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 0.6% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, 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 directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

JNJ opened at $159.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $384.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.89. 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 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.