American Trust Purchases 1,764 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

American Trust boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,514 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:JNJ traded down $0.72 on Wednesday, hitting $152.53. 8,423,157 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,963,089. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.65. The company has a market cap of $367.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays reduced 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.88.

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.