BluePath Capital Management LLC Sells 5,314 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

BluePath Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 79.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,402 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,314 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,175 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,050,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $170,372,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, June 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.2 %

JNJ stock opened at $145.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.85. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The stock has a market cap of $350.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 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.