Atwater Malick LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Atwater Malick LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 48,688 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 973 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 2.7% of Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,339,878,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after purchasing an additional 7,185,977 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $153.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson 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.