Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 85,434 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.8% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $13,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth $1,626,000. Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 87,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,125,000 after buying an additional 21,471 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.3% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 61,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,998,000 after buying an additional 4,174 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.4% in the first quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 3,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Guggenheim raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value 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 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $151.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $161.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.99. The stock has a market cap of $365.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.78%.

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.