Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by AlphaCore Capital LLC

AlphaCore Capital LLC lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth $765,000. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 86,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 78.7% in the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 351,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,667,000 after purchasing an additional 23,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.8 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $155.79 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $160.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.17.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for 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%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors 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 yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 71.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

About Johnson & Johnson

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.