Staley Capital Advisers Inc. Sells 2,855 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 293,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,855 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 2.2% of Staley Capital Advisers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Staley Capital Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $48,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,800,371,000 after buying an additional 1,170,120 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 worth $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,899,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,602,000 after buying an additional 712,181 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,031,955,000 after buying an additional 448,666 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $167.00 price objective (up from $164.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $173.40 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $159.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.60. The company has a market capitalization of $417.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $173.96.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

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.