Welch Group LLC Has $57.88 Million Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378,913 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,132 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 2.4% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $57,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,800,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,120 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,131,723,000 after purchasing an additional 130,645 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,899,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,602,000 after buying an additional 712,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,031,955,000 after buying an additional 448,666 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Weiss Ratings upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.59.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1%

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $190.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $459.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $194.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.34.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 33.08%. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.