Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 357,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,081 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $56,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,175 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $193,050,000. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $193,996,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ traded down $1.56 on Tuesday, reaching $152.68. 3,360,912 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,303,052. The firm has a market cap of $367.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.52. 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 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $148.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.24.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.79% and a net margin of 46.34%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.