Kovack Advisors Inc. Buys 88 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,761 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $165.23 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $150.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.