Lincoln National Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Lincoln National Corp lowered its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,716 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $11,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,620,000 after purchasing an additional 498,647 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,061,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,112,000 after purchasing an additional 26,982 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,436,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,301,000 after purchasing an additional 12,867 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,396,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,198,000 after purchasing an additional 200,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,306,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,726,000 after purchasing an additional 120,891 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $149.85 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $360.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $153.45 and a 200 day moving average of $154.93.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. 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. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.