Apella Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,649 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,314 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. MRP Capital Investments LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $154.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $371.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $154.01 and its 200 day moving average is $153.68. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued 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 business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

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.