Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Purchases Shares of 4,540 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ traded down $0.73 on Friday, hitting $154.69. The stock had a trading volume of 7,398,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,753,419. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $372.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $148.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.34.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.79%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.