Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,404,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,760 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 0.7% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.27% of Johnson & Johnson worth $1,013,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,685,000 after purchasing an additional 15,490 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $1,458,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $145.69 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $175.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $350.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. Eight 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 company. 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 Company 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.