Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 33.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,838 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,936 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on JNJ. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock traded up $0.28 on Thursday, hitting $153.50. 5,288,204 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,929,037. The stock has a market cap of $369.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.81 and a 200 day moving average of $153.67. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.