Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 536 shares during the period. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,685,000 after acquiring an additional 15,490 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,458,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $146.42 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.05. The stock has a market cap of $352.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.52.

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 return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 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.