Forte Asset Management LLC Makes New $727,000 Investment in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Forte Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $727,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Jackson Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% in the first quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 23,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,946,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 74.6% in the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 4,218 shares in the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 14.3% in the first quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viewpoint Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% in the first quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,394,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $155.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,432,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,046,146. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.24. The company has a market capitalization of $374.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. On average, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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 Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently 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.