Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 270,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,047,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $153.25. The stock had a trading volume of 6,979,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,961,247. The firm has a market capitalization of $368.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.65.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James cut their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

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.