Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,345 shares of the company’s stock after selling 501 shares during the quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Holistic Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 39.4% in the third quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,927,000. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.2% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 56,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,196,000 after acquiring an additional 6,166 shares in the last quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 39,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $155.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $374.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.81. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.