Chatham Capital Group Inc. Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Chatham Capital Group Inc. reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 49,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,548 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.4% of Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $153.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $369.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.67. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost 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 3.39%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 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.