Lesa Sroufe & Co Takes Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Lesa Sroufe & Co purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $152.38 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.69. The stock has a market cap of $366.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. Research analysts predict 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 issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. 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.

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