Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Bought by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,662 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,728 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after buying an additional 111,570 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 31,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,009,000 after purchasing an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, David J Yvars Group bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $166.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $152.95 and its 200-day moving average is $156.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.