Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,114 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.8% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after acquiring an additional 6,332 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 41,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $133,267,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $170.72 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $172.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 55.61%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.