Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 8,480 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,488 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at $1,626,000. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 21,471 shares in the last quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the first quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,695,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.4% during the first quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 3,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,341 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $155.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $374.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $162.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.00.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.