Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Invests $42.90 Million in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 296,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,901,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 136,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24,969 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 478,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,242,000 after purchasing an additional 168,616 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $3,326,000. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 142,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,580,000 after purchasing an additional 27,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 3,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $152.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $366.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.80.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.