Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,187,397 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,823,484 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 10.2% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 0.17% of Johnson & Johnson worth $694,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. MBA Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 12,970 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,151,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 6,633 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3%

Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $169.62. The stock had a trading volume of 6,629,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,401,730. The stock has a market cap of $408.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $155.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.07% and a net margin of 25.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 55.61%.

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.