Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Buys 19,600 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,700 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,600 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $16,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 56,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,158,000 after acquiring an additional 23,331 shares during the period. Loudon Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 6,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 109,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,823,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 52,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 65,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,404,000 after purchasing an additional 18,794 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $162.93 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.57 and its 200 day moving average is $156.34. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company 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 firm posted $2.29 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Barclays upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upped 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.