JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Sells 23,399 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 488,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,399 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $70,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. KKM Financial LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 18,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,608,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 236.6% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 185,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,775,000 after buying an additional 130,140 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 10,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 13,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,100,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $153.98 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $157.89 and its 200-day moving average is $154.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.