Axa S.A. Purchases 73,756 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Axa S.A. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 765,551 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,756 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $110,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. AlTi Global Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 107,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,654,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $1,610,000. Finally, Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given 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 Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $156.09 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $375.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $158.85 and a 200 day moving average of $154.67. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current 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 $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is an increase 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%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.