Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,110 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,166 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.2% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. Wall Street Zen downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Bank of America decreased 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 note on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $150.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $362.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $154.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.