First Western Trust Bank Increases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

First Western Trust Bank lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,636 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 214 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.2% in the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 20,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547 shares during the period. Holistic Financial Partners grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% in the third quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 3,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 74,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,027,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 86,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,036,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Finally, Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 1,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $154.00 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $161.35 and its 200 day moving average is $156.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.