Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Reduces Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 31.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,175 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,116 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $13,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $153.25. 6,979,932 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,961,247. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $155.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.65. The company has a market cap of $368.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.