Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 16.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,183 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,067 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company's stock worth $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,064,149,000 after buying an additional 1,004,763 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company's stock worth $2,968,440,000 after buying an additional 1,265,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company's stock worth $2,858,543,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.73.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $146.62. The stock had a trading volume of 8,324,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,123,697. 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 has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $353.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.36.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 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.