King Luther Capital Management Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 580,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,476 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $90,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 25.9% in the third quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the third quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 53,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,268,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.1% in the third quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% in the third quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 90,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,075,000 after purchasing an additional 10,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.9% in the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 15,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock traded down $1.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $151.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,339,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,291,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $151.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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 company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s 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.