Lafayette Investments Inc. Acquires 69 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,331 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 1.9% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower View Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% in the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% in the third quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 37.8% in the third quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 216.7% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 380 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $148.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $357.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $155.69 and a 200 day moving average of $155.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 29.68%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.