Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is Sector Gamma AS's 6th Largest Position

Key Points

• Sector Gamma AS increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 25.6% during the first quarter, owning 98,000 shares valued at approximately $16.25 million, making it the fund's sixth largest position.
• Johnson & Johnson reported $2.77 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 per share, yielding 3.0% annually.
• Analysts have maintained a generally positive outlook on the stock, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $174.50.

Sector Gamma AS boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 5.2% of Sector Gamma AS's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Sector Gamma AS's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $16,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at about $1,369,188,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after acquiring an additional 7,185,977 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $167.00 price target (up previously from $164.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ traded up $2.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.76. 9,476,237 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,427,234. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $177.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $425.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company's fifty day moving average price is $161.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.34.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.61%.

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.