Equity Investment Corp Purchases 1,004 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Equity Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 86,613 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the quarter. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $14,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 400.0% during the third quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on 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 Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

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 dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction 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 22.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $154.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $370.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $161.35 and its 200 day moving average is $156.13.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 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 issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.