Sound Income Strategies LLC Purchases 683 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,109 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Bancorp Inc ME increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 8,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after buying an additional 654 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.6% in the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% during the first quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,192,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.4% during the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 31,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beech Hill Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.3% in the first quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 19,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,137,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Bank of America dropped 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock traded down $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $146.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,266,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,408,414. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The company has a market capitalization of $353.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $148.13 and its 200-day moving average is $154.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.38%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 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.