Aberdeen Group plc Grows Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 39.0%, acquiring an additional 760,488 shares, making it the 17th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Johnson & Johnson reported earnings of $2.77 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $2.68, with revenue of $23.74 billion compared to a consensus of $22.85 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 3.0%, reflecting a payout ratio of 55.61%.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 39.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,708,599 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 760,488 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 0.9% of Aberdeen Group plc's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.11% of Johnson & Johnson worth $449,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,369,188,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock worth $1,196,596,000 after buying an additional 7,185,977 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock worth $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock worth $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock worth $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ traded up $2.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.76. The stock had a trading volume of 9,476,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,427,234. The firm has a market cap of $425.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $177.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $161.28 and a 200 day moving average of $158.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.