CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 4,377 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 156,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,377 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock traded up $2.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $153.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,608,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,354,839. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.55.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 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.