Certified Advisory Corp Raises Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Certified Advisory Corp increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,241 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the quarter. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 37.8% during the third quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $152.23. 830,891 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,287,731. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.55. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.