Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 7,159 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 706,572 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.7% of Arizona State Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $117,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their target price 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. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.00.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $156.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.75 and its 200-day moving average is $154.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $377.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. 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.