Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Makes New $1.16 Million Investment in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,160,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.2%

JNJ opened at $153.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $157.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.