Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,192 shares of the company’s stock after selling 194 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. 4J Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. My Personal CFO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. My Personal CFO LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookmont Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Brookmont Capital Management now owns 14,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,328,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, June 17th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded up $4.52 on Wednesday, reaching $155.53. 5,495,642 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,253,265. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $148.00 and its 200-day moving average is $153.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.