China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,319 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,678 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $158.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,728,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,037,576. The firm has a market cap of $380.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.67 and a 200 day moving average of $154.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.29%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.88.

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.