Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,516 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,756 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.7% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s 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 reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 4J Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. My Personal CFO LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. My Personal CFO LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookmont Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Brookmont Capital Management now owns 14,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,328,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Seven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded down $2.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $151.90. 1,963,172 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,291,422. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.24. 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 has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $175.97. The firm has a market cap 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.