Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 2,700 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. decreased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.4% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $168.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.88. The company has a market capitalization of $404.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.07% and a net margin of 25.00%. The business had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up previously from $164.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

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.