Wendell David Associates Inc. Has $17.47 Million Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wendell David Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,334 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,571 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.7% of Wendell David Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Wendell David Associates Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $17,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $1,339,878,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,185,977 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock worth $1,149,536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559,147 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Benchmark raised 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of JNJ stock traded down $1.61 on Wednesday, hitting $150.77. The company had a trading volume of 8,323,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,959,915. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $362.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50-day moving average is $154.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.69.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.