Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Boosts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 325,312 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 0.9% of Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $47,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.8 %

JNJ stock opened at $157.23 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company 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 research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

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.