Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,080 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,606 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. MRP Capital Investments LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. MBA Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 1st 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. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,928 shares of the company's stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eleven research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.2%

JNJ traded up $1.89 on Thursday, hitting $158.17. 2,359,498 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,995,371. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.26. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, 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 data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.