Northern Financial Advisors Inc Boosts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 114.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,079 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,173 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock worth $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock worth $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock worth $3,844,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.7%

Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $168.29. The company had a trading volume of 6,199,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,375,731. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $156.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.88. The firm has a market cap of $404.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 33.07%. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

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.