Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Martin Capital Partners LLC

Martin Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,223 shares of the company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 2.8% of Martin Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Martin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $290,000. Capital & Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 6,332 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,886,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 105,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,257,000 after buying an additional 18,082 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $155.19 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $153.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.70. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.