Constitution Capital LLC Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Constitution Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,445 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.4% of Constitution Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,000. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 6,332 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,886,000. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eleven research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9%

JNJ opened at $155.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.68.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 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.