Johnson & Johnson $JNJ Stake Boosted by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 378,913 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,132 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 2.4% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $57,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,800,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,120 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,131,723,000 after purchasing an additional 130,645 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,582 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,899,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,133,602,000 after purchasing an additional 712,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,031,955,000 after buying an additional 448,666 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $213.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.59.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $190.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $459.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $194.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.34.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.08% and a net margin of 27.26%. Research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 55.61%.

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.