Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 228,188 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,091 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 0.6% of Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $33,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1,962.6% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 60,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,692,000 after purchasing an additional 57,190 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $6,314,000. Beddow Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,601,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $945,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $1,449,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.40 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $156.99 and a 200 day moving average of $156.33. The firm has a market cap of $393.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.