Argent Trust Co Acquires 1,557 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• Argent Trust Co increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9%, acquiring an additional 1,557 shares, bringing their total to 173,861 shares valued at $28.83 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Bank of New York Mellon Corp, have also raised their holdings in Johnson & Johnson, highlighting significant interest among hedge funds.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Johnson & Johnson, with estimates ranging from $162.00 to $175.00, indicating a generally positive view on the stock.

Argent Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,861 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.2% of Argent Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $28,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock worth $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock worth $3,844,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company's stock worth $2,766,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,975 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company's stock worth $3,031,955,000 after acquiring an additional 448,666 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,773,493 shares of the company's stock worth $2,136,390,000 after acquiring an additional 636,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $167.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $157.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.68. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $402.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 55.61%.

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.

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