Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. has reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.1%, selling 2,700 shares, which leaves it with 35,581 shares valued at $5,901,000.
• Johnson & Johnson reported earnings of $2.77 per share, exceeding expectations, with a revenue increase of 5.8% year-over-year during the last quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, marking a 3.09% yield, with the dividend payout ratio currently at 55.61%.

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,581 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,700 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.4% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.4% in the first quarter. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% in the first quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the first quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the first quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 12,970 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,151,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $164.96. 3,882,115 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,023,639. The stock has a market cap of $397.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $156.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.30.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 55.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.