Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Acquires New Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 38,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,351,000. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.7% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,339,878,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after buying an additional 7,185,977 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock worth $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 buying an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock opened at $156.90 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $153.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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