LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,776 shares, bringing its total holdings to 12,356 shares worth $2,049,000.
• Johnson & Johnson's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting an EPS of $2.77 against a consensus estimate of $2.68, with revenues of $23.74 billion.
• The company announced a $1.30 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 3.0%, with payment scheduled for September 9th for shareholders of record as of August 26th.

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,356 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Elios Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Elios Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,496 shares of the company's stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $173.40. 7,686,049 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,496,232. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $173.96. The stock's fifty day moving average is $159.26 and its 200 day moving average is $157.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $417.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up previously from $164.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.