Fred Alger Management LLC Buys 7,871 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 13.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 65,004 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,871 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $12,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total value of $5,527,477.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,540,469.77. This represents a 45.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total value of $1,508,287.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,700.17. The trade was a 21.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,142 shares of company stock worth $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $210.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $243.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $585.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34. 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 50-day moving average of $232.69 and a 200-day moving average of $207.13. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $141.50 and a 52-week high of $251.71.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.28 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 28.46% and a return on equity of 33.04%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.