Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,825,626 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) by 1,382.0% in the first quarter, owning a total of 3,030,084 shares valued at approximately $502.51 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Johnson & Johnson, with Goldman Sachs upgrading their rating from "neutral" to "buy" and raising the price target to $172.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.77, exceeding estimates and showcasing a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.8%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 1,382.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,030,084 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,825,626 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.2% of Pacer Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.13% of Johnson & Johnson worth $502,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $2.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $168.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,913,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,049,618. The business's fifty day moving average is $156.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.14. 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 has a market cap of $405.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%. The business had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up previously from $164.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.50.

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.