Palisade Capital Management LP Sells 1,887 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Palisade Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,798 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,887 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $155.90. 3,482,521 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,059,757. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.26. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.09. The company has a market cap of $375.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. 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. Johnson & Johnson's 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.