Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Boosts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) by 11.6%, owning 34,714 shares worth approximately $5.76 million after acquiring 3,622 additional shares in the first quarter.
• Johnson & Johnson's stock has recently experienced a downgrade by analysts, with the consensus rating moving to a "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $174.50.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, payable on September 9th, representing an annualized yield of 3.0%.

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,714 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,622 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elios Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. MBA Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% in the first quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the company's stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,928 shares of the company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the first quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of JNJ traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $171.41. The stock had a trading volume of 9,314,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,367,092. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $158.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.27. The company has a market cap of $412.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $172.18.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 3.0%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Leerink Partners cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reiterated 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson 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.