Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 706,572 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 0.7% of Arizona State Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $117,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after purchasing an additional 7,185,977 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559,147 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partners downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $156.87. 7,866,488 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,077,942. The business's 50-day moving average price is $153.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.49. 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 twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The company has a market capitalization of $377.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

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.