Price Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 8,970 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Price Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,000. Johnson & Johnson makes up 3.8% of Price Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $167.90 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $154.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $403.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.41.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 33.07%. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 55.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered shares of 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. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.87.

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.