Cooke & Bieler LP Has $134.59 Million Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 858,687 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,251 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $134,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 62,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,814,000 after acquiring an additional 8,038 shares in the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $333,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 198,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,083,000 after buying an additional 9,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $146.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $155.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is a boost 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 presently 29.68%.

Insider Activity

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

About Johnson & Johnson

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.