Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,516 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,756 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.7% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ traded down $2.34 on Tuesday, hitting $151.90. 1,963,172 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,291,422. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $148.42 and a 200-day moving average of $153.24. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.79% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.