Rockland Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Rockland Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 107,539 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,649 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $17,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target 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 cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners downgraded 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. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eleven 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $156.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $376.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.71. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced 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. The business 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 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change 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 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.