North Star Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,616 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,209,060,000 after buying an additional 3,085,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,609,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,227,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,676 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,131,723,000 after acquiring an additional 130,645 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,802,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,635,832,000 after acquiring an additional 620,039 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,951,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,894,979,000 after purchasing an additional 52,074 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Johnson Rice set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $190.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.05.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock opened at $206.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $188.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.13. The firm has a market cap of $496.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $206.94.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 50.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at $31,652,491.53. The trade was a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.