Welch Group LLC Has $61.03 Million Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372,781 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 33,255 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 2.7% of Welch Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $61,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 76,195 shares of the company's stock worth $12,636,000 after buying an additional 3,724 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.5% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 714 shares of the company's stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock worth $1,196,596,000 after acquiring an additional 7,185,977 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 11,479 shares of the company's stock worth $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 38,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,451,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded up $1.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $154.99. The stock had a trading volume of 15,529,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,975,430. The firm has a market capitalization of $372.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.65.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

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.