Bailard Inc. Raises Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,294 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,087 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $23,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.24.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 6.2%

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $164.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $396.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.95 and a 200 day moving average of $154.71.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. 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.