S&CO Inc. Sells 8,989 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.1%, selling 8,989 shares, and currently holds 166,081 shares valued at approximately $27.54 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Conquis Financial LLC and Bernard Wealth Management Corp., have recently acquired new stakes in Johnson & Johnson, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 69.55%.
• Johnson & Johnson's latest earnings report showed a 5.8% increase in revenue year-over-year, with an EPS of $2.77 surpassing analysts' estimates.

S&CO Inc. lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,081 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,989 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 1.8% of S&CO Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $27,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $13,476,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 28.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 79,882 shares of the company's stock worth $14,308,000 after acquiring an additional 17,890 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.7% during the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,784 shares of the company's stock worth $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 232.5% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,957 shares of the company's stock worth $12,928,000 after acquiring an additional 54,512 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 18.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 44,394 shares of the company's stock worth $7,362,000 after acquiring an additional 7,035 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.6%

Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $2.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $167.33. The stock had a trading volume of 8,672,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,063,783. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $157.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.44. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $402.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.