CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Reduces Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,816,343 shares of the company's stock after selling 515,770 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 0.7% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.12% of Johnson & Johnson worth $407,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Barclays raised their price target 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. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.78.

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Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Johnson & Johnson

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2 %

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Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.95 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $159.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.10. The stock has a market cap of $371.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.

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