Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,130 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 0.7% of Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $164.78 on Thursday. 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $153.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.71. The firm has a market cap of $396.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.00.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.