Vance Wealth Inc. Increases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vance Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,188 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.2% of Vance Wealth Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Vance Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,626,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% in the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 137.2% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,061,000 after purchasing an additional 25,203 shares in the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 32.7% in the third quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 87,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,125,000 after purchasing an additional 21,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.3% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 61,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,998,000 after acquiring an additional 4,174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value 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. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $154.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $161.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.16. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The stock has a market cap of $372.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. 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.