Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $3.39 Million in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 20,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after buying an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,626,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $155.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $373.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $159.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.44. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85. 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 issued 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. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued 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 3.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.78%.

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.