Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 75.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,601,872 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 690,168 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Johnson & Johnson worth $265,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:JNJ traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $156.61. 7,065,256 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,948,712. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $153.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.71. The company has a market cap of $376.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. 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.