Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 42,059 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 40.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,563 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,059 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $23,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JNJ. Guggenheim increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.00.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $152.64 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The stock has a market cap of $367.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.53. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $162.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.