J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,984 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.8% of J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 68.1% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the first quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 72,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,501,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 487,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,088,000 after purchasing an additional 31,800 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 81,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,917,000 after purchasing an additional 8,892 shares during the period. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 13,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, July 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 30th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of JNJ stock traded up $5.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $156.58. The company had a trading volume of 13,795,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,313,591. The company’s fifty day moving average is $148.00 and its 200 day moving average is $153.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.84 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.