Banque Pictet & Cie SA Boosts Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 178,474 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,282 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $25,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 47,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778 shares during the period. CFC Planning Co LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,920,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 312,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,261,000 after buying an additional 26,731 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 218.2% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after buying an additional 6,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newport Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Newport Capital Group LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $156.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $376.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $147.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

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.