Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,190 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,986,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $453,000. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the first quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 74,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company's stock worth $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 15,886 shares of the company's stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.65. 9,764,459 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,146,241. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $154.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 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. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.07% and a net margin of 25.00%. The business's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 55.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.11.

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.