Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Makes New Investment in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 431,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,859,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shilanski & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 2,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.2% in the second quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 2,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 267.4% in the second quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 20,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 15,050 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,626,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth $1,365,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $166.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $146.62 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $156.73 and its 200 day moving average is $156.36. The stock has a market cap of $353.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.