Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,274 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.2% of M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $155.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $373.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.70. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly 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 company 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%. Equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lowered 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. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.