Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Sells 19,166 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,110 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,166 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.2% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $1,339,878,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Eleven equities 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.81. The stock had a trading volume of 22,591,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,993,824. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock's 50 day moving average is $154.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.65. The stock has a market cap of $360.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. 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.