Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $1.54 Million Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 598 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth about $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 boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 400.0% in the third quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 22.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $155.39 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.12 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date 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.