Isthmus Partners LLC Purchases 22,194 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Isthmus Partners LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 30.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,950 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,194 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.7% of Isthmus Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391,657 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,945,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,483,532,000 after acquiring an additional 241,799 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,620,000 after acquiring an additional 498,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,169,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,593,908,000 after buying an additional 975,485 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, June 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock traded up $5.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $156.94. The company had a trading volume of 7,016,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,259,798. The firm has a market cap of $377.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.52. 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 has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.37.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.