Bard Financial Services Inc. Has $16.64 Million Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Bard Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 100,317 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 2.0% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $16,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $155.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.70. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $373.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.