Generali Investments Management Co LLC Trims Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,665 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.0% of Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $1,339,878,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,596,000 after buying an additional 7,185,977 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $153.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.67.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.39%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

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.