Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Acquired by Range Financial Group LLC

Range Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 18.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,886 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,529 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.2% of Range Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Range Financial Group LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock worth $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $1.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $156.45. 6,791,151 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,934,951. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $153.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 57.84%.

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.