Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,569 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.8% of Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $4,390,037,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the 1st 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in 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 buying an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.00.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $156.87. 7,866,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,066,975. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.41. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $153.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.35. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

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.