Veracity Capital LLC Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Veracity Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,836 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,000. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after buying an additional 6,332 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,886,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $154.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $154.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.68. The company has a market cap of $371.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 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.