Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Buys Shares of 10,597 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,533,000. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.5% of Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,149,536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $149.40 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $359.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 yield of 3.48%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

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.