Empower Advisory Group LLC Buys 112,909 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 15.4%, acquiring an additional 112,909 shares, bringing its total holdings to 844,166 shares worth approximately $140 million.
• Various research firms have recently updated their ratings on Johnson & Johnson, with Benchmark rating it as a "strong-buy" and Goldman Sachs raising the target price from $157 to $172.
• Johnson & Johnson announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, which represents a 3.0% yield and will be paid on September 9th to shareholders of record as of August 26th.

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 844,166 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 112,909 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $139,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on JNJ. Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $171.08 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $171.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Johnson & Johnson's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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