Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Position Increased by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,359 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 882 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased 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. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 7.6 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $153.25 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $159.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.99. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.