OLD Republic International Corp Purchases 4,000 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

OLD Republic International Corp increased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 333,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 2.1% of OLD Republic International Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. OLD Republic International Corp's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $55,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. MRP Capital Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company's stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. MBA Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during 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. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 1st 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 period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $157.59. 3,941,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,042,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $153.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.27. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

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.