Sound Income Strategies LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sound Income Strategies LLC lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,189 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2%

JNJ opened at $156.90 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $153.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $377.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $1.30 dividend. 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 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.