Vestcor Inc Grows Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 17.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 180,698 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,990 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.0% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $33,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 707.1% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 226 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $210.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.87.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $240.57 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.37. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $141.50 and a 52-week high of $251.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $579.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.34.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.28 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 28.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total transaction of $1,508,287.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,598,700.17. The trade was a 21.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 1,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.66, for a total value of $324,762.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,447 shares in the company, valued at $6,251,310.02. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,142 shares of company stock worth $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.