Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Decreases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $453,000. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 74,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,294,000 after buying an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,487,000 after buying an additional 10,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,635,000 after buying an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE JNJ opened at $167.33 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $157.46 and a 200-day moving average of $156.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $402.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on JNJ. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

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.