Wedmont Private Capital Boosts Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,922 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FCA Corp TX lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the third quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 19,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 229,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,699,000 after buying an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,398,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,592,000 after acquiring an additional 143,114 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 38,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the third quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 44,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,865,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.6 %

JNJ stock opened at $148.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $175.97. The firm has a market cap of $357.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.63 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

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.