Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,343 shares of the company's stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 182,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,330,000 after purchasing an additional 13,957 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 6,984 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 9,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 61,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of JNJ traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $157.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,719,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,060,895. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $379.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company's 50 day moving average is $153.67 and its 200 day moving average is $154.27.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.