Whittier Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 369,164 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,193 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.9% of Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $58,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 15,490 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 30th. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $149.41 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $147.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $359.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 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.