Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 107,009 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,698,831 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 107,009 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Johnson & Johnson worth $281,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock worth $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock worth $8,321,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock worth $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $150.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $362.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $154.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.67. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 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.

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