Parallel Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,195 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,724 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $12,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped 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 Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $154.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,529,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,975,430. The company has a market capitalization of $372.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $154.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

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.