Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stake Lifted by GenWealth Group Inc.

GenWealth Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 25.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,631 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 748 shares during the quarter. GenWealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Bank of America reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $154.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $154.01 and its 200-day moving average is $153.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 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.