Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 21,481 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Highland Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 26.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,525 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,481 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock worth $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of JNJ opened at $152.44 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $366.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $153.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson 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.

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