Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Acquired by Assetmark Inc.

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.2%, holding a total of 85,662 shares worth approximately $14.2 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Analysts have shown optimism towards Johnson & Johnson, with nine analysts giving hold ratings, ten issuing buy ratings, and two offering strong buy ratings, reflecting a consensus target price of $174.50.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.09%, with a payout ratio of 55.61%.

Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,662 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,501 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $14,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock worth $3,844,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,766,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research 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 boosted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $167.86. 972,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,026,678. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.22. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $403.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.61%.

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.