Advisor Resource Council Purchases New Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,273,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company's stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $453,000. Horan Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company's stock worth $1,487,000 after buying an additional 10,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 18.9% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 15,886 shares of the company's stock worth $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $152.33. The company had a trading volume of 7,149,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,004,092. 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 has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.68. The company has a market capitalization of $366.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of 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, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson 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.