Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $4.73 Million Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 175.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,507 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,153 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $1,339,878,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,596,000 after purchasing an additional 7,185,977 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,149,536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $155.19 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $373.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.