Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Decreases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. reduced its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,800 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,900 shares during the period. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $17,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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. Leerink Partnrs lowered Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.17 during trading on Monday, reaching $152.58. The stock had a trading volume of 9,000,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,022,909. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $153.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a market capitalization of $367.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

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.