Avity Investment Management Inc. Acquires 3,349 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 241,654 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,349 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 3.2% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $40,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $290,000. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after buying an additional 6,332 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,886,000. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 152.4% in the 4th quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 5,738 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.50 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $153.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.67. The company has a market cap of $369.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.