Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Raises Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,216 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $12,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $765,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 46.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 101,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,015,000 after purchasing an additional 32,244 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $718,000. Allstate Corp lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 7,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after buying an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 18.4% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 30,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,876,000 after buying an additional 4,779 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa America cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $154.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $370.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $161.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.13. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 71.78%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.