Vestor Capital LLC Acquires 119,576 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vestor Capital LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 5,757.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,653 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 119,576 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.7% of Vestor Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Vestor Capital LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $20,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.87.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $167.90 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $154.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.12. 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 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $403.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.07% and a net margin of 25.00%. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 55.61%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.

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