Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 859 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,934 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 2,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 517.7% in the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 13,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 10,950 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 61,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,998,000 after purchasing an additional 4,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 36,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,858,000 after purchasing an additional 8,077 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $152.64 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $162.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $367.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.53. 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. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 71.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.