Keystone Financial Group Trims Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Keystone Financial Group lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,475 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 0.7% of Keystone Financial Group’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Keystone Financial Group’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $4,071,642,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,945,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,483,532,000 after buying an additional 241,799 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,620,000 after acquiring an additional 498,647 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,169,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,593,908,000 after acquiring an additional 975,485 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,285,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,140,000 after purchasing an additional 50,822 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $152.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $366.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.