Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Purchases Shares of 4,140 Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the third quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.4% in the third quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 15,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Defined Financial Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Defined Financial Planning LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of JNJ opened at $207.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $499.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $215.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 32.73%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $206.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Johnson Rice set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $190.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.25.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.