Baxter Bros Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Baxter Bros Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,295 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.0% of Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,743,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $403,000. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Edmp Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 13,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,064,000 after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 41,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,472,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $158.01. The company had a trading volume of 4,052,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,334,727. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $175.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $151.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $380.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.