Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Trims Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,656,858 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,336 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.0% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.07% of Johnson & Johnson worth $300,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.87.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $166.35. The stock had a trading volume of 2,246,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,118,994. The firm has a market cap of $400.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average price is $154.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.12.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 33.07%. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

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.

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