Banco Santander S.A. Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 44.7%, holding a total of 59,023 shares valued at approximately $9.79 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Multiple hedge funds have enhanced their positions in JNJ, with GAMMA Investing LLC's stake soaring by 24,450.4% after acquiring over 7.18 million additional shares.
• Johnson & Johnson reported a quarterly EPS of $2.77, exceeding analyst expectations, alongside a revenue of $23.74 billion, indicating a growth of 5.8% compared to the previous year.

Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 44.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,023 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 18,220 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of 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 grew its position in shares of 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 grew its position in shares of 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of 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. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1,382.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,030,084 shares of the company's stock valued at $502,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825,626 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $167.33 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.46 and a 200-day moving average of $156.68. The company has a market capitalization of $402.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

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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