Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 352,581 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,936,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 352,581 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.9% of Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.12% of Johnson & Johnson worth $424,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in 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 raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $156.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $376.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $159.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.78.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change 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 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.82.

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.