High Falls Advisors Inc Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

High Falls Advisors Inc lessened its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 28.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,890 shares of the company’s stock after selling 758 shares during the quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after buying an additional 3,391,657 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,647,000 after buying an additional 2,064,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $193,050,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ traded up $2.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $161.30. The stock had a trading volume of 6,543,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,331,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $388.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa America lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Securities reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.