Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $618,000 in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,175 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 89.9% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,251,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,880 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2,264.8% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 822,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,139,000 after acquiring an additional 787,934 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,957,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,370,000 after acquiring an additional 719,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,599,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,662,000 after acquiring an additional 688,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $146.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.41. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on 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 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.