Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Has $47.05 Million Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 325,312 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 0.9% of Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $47,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $1,339,878,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,698,984,000 after buying an additional 1,660,458 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $157.23 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $158.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.49. The company has a market cap of $378.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG 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 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 results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

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.