Kings Path Partners LLC Sells 7,343 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kings Path Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 86.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,185 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,343 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the first quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 44,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,454,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 37,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,268,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24.0% during the first quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 29,554 shares of the company's stock worth $4,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Baring Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the first quarter. Baring Financial LLC now owns 5,784 shares of the company's stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.4% in the first quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 40,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Monday, reaching $154.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,199,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,926,302. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $371.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.