Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Trims Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 528.6% during the 4th quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock opened at $146.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.06. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The firm has a market cap of $351.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.