Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,033 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 448 shares during the quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,685,000 after acquiring an additional 15,490 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,458,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $148.75 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.35. 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 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $175.97. The company has a market capitalization of $357.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.07.

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.