Janus Henderson Group PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 134.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.6% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,149,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade 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 Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.98 on Friday. 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $157.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.82.

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.