Payden & Rygel Investment Group Takes Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Payden & Rygel Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 90,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,379,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,685,000 after purchasing an additional 15,490 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% in the first quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,620,000 after purchasing an additional 498,647 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ traded up $3.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $159.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,014,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,340,644. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.25. The company has a market cap of $384.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.79% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 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.