Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,652 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $6,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $156.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $376.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.69.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

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.