Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,296 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 1.3% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% during the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised 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 valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $155.75 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $159.98 and its 200 day moving average is $156.36. The company has a market capitalization of $374.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 71.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

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.