First Bancorp Inc ME Boosts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

First Bancorp Inc ME lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,675 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 1.0% of First Bancorp Inc ME’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,685,000 after buying an additional 15,490 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 4,457 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $1,458,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $146.84. The company had a trading volume of 3,168,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,391,220. 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 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $175.97. The firm has a market cap of $353.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $148.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.24.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.63 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.