Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,221 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,591 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.9% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $28,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,339,878,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after purchasing an additional 7,185,977 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559,147 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $156.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,866,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,077,942. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

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.