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If you want to learn how to buy Johnson and Johnson stock, you’re in the right place. This article takes our guide on how to buy stocks and tailors it specifically to Johnson and Johnson stock.
Here are the steps to take, in order from first to last:
Set up a Brokerage Account To Buy Johnson and Johnson Stock
The term “broker” or “brokerage account” can be confusing to understand at first for many people.
We’re going to keep it simple and help explain it by using an analogy.
When you have money, there are different types of accounts where you can put your money.
If you want to put your money in an account where you can easily access it and write checks or withdraw cash from an ATM, then you typically set up a bank account.
If, on the other hand, you want to put your money in an account that allows you to buy stocks like Johnson and Johnson, then you need a brokerage account. It might seem like a foreign term if you’re a beginner, but it’s just the terminology used to describe an account that can buy and sell shares of stock.
There are many brokerage accounts out there that are free to set up. You can choose one from our list of the best stock trading platforms.
We like Tradier. They’re a brokerage that makes it simple to buy Johnson and Johnson stock online. We’ll feature Tradier in our tutorial in this guide.
Setting up a brokerage account involves more than just a click or two. It may take some time to go through all the forms, but at least it’s just a one-time deal to complete them.
Put Money in Your New Brokerage Account
After you set up the brokerage account, it’s time to put money in it. You can’t buy Johnson and Johnson stock if you don’t have money in the account.
Most brokerages will clarify how to put money in the account right after you open it. Most times, it involves connecting your bank account with your brokerage account to transfer money between them electronically.
It’s worth noting that typically when you make your first deposit into a new brokerage account, it takes about a week for them to let you use that money. So don’t expect that you’ll be able to instantly buy Johnson and Johnson stock shares after making the deposit.
Buy Johnson and Johnson Stock Using Your Brokerage Account
You’re ready to buy Johnson and Johnson stock now that your brokerage account has money. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to buy shares of Johnson and Johnson stock using screenshots from the Tradier brokerage account.
First, you need to pull up a ticker symbol for the underlying stock. In Tradier’s platform (which they call Dash), that is done through the Dashboard page as shown here:
The Ticker Symbol for Johnson and Johnson is JNJ
Then type in the ticker symbol of the stock you want to buy. For Johnson and Johnson, the ticker symbol is JNJ.
In Tradier, after you type in JNJ, it brings up a page that looks like this:
As you can see, it shows all the core information about JNJ stock there, including the current price.
From here, to buy shares of stock for Johnson and Johnson, you need to click the green button at the top that says “Trade.”
Doing that takes you to a page that looks like this:
That is where you can enter the details for your Johnson and Johnson stock trade. These fields are already auto-populated:
- JNJ (in the Symbol field)
- Equity (refers to stocks, as opposed to options or other assets)
- Buy (as opposed to Sell)
The remaining fields need some explanation:
Quantity
There is an empty Quantity field. That’s where you enter the number of shares of Johnson and Johnson stock you want to buy.
You can see at the top right of the above screenshot that the prevailing price of JNJ stock was $173.43. So, each share you buy will cost approximately the amount shown there.
Order Type
The two usual choices here are either Market or Limit.
To explain those, we need to talk about the mechanics of prices in the stock market. For any given asset, there are buyers and sellers.
When someone wants to buy a stock, the price they are willing to pay is referred to as a bid. When someone wants to sell, it’s an offer (or ask).
A transaction occurs when the bid criterion for a buyer matches the ask criterion for a seller.
You can see the highest bid and the lowest ask price for a stock at any given time. These are respectively referred to as “the bid” and “the ask.”
You’ll typically see some distance between the bid and the ask. If the bid and the ask were the same, that would have already resulted in a transaction. Any open orders will not have overlapping bid and ask prices.
If you look again at the screenshot above, you’ll see the bid and the ask indicated there for Johnson and Johnson stock. It shows a bid of $173.20 and an ask of $173.39.
That means the highest bidder out there is willing to pay $173.20 And the lowest seller out there is willing to sell for $173.39.
Now let’s look at the two order types: market and limit.
If you submit an order to buy Johnson and Johnson stock using a market order, it will match you up with the nearest seller. You don’t indicate a numeric price since “market” means you’ll pay the market price for Johnson and Johnson stock. In this case, you would likely pay $173.39 for your shares.
If you buy Johnson and Johnson stock using a limit order, you indicate the exact price you are willing to pay. Your order will only get filled if you get that price or lower.
There are tradeoffs with each order type.
With a market order, you ensure you get into Johnson and Johnson stock position quickly, but you might make a sacrifice on the price since you’re automatically paying the ask price.
With a limit order, you can try to get a lower price (maybe a price between the bid and ask), but you risk missing the buying opportunity if your order isn’t filled. So limit orders offer less certainty of fulfillment than market orders do.
There is no perfect order type for your Johnson and Johnson stock purchase. Ultimately you have to decide for yourself which tradeoffs you prefer.
Time In Force
That is the last field on the Tradier order entry page. You have two choices here:
- Day – Your order will only be active until the current day’s trading session ends.
- GTC – This stands for Good Til Canceled, which means your order will be active until you cancel it.
Once you’ve entered all your preferences, you can click the purple Submit button to submit your order.
The broker will fill your order immediately if you use a market order. If you use a limit order, it may not be filled right away. That’s where your Time In Force choice makes a difference. It affects how long your Johnson and Johnson stock order stays open.
Conclusion
Those are the steps to take in order to buy Johnson and Johnson stock. You need to have a brokerage account ready and open. Then you need to get to the ordering screen, type in the ticker symbol for Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), and make sure the settings are configured to buy the stock at the price you want.
FAQs About Buying Johnson and Johnson Stock
Here are some FAQs we’ve heard before about buying Johnson and Johnson stock shares:
What Is Johnson and Johnson Stock?
Johnson and Johnson is a public company. That means that there are no individuals who privately own Johnson and Johnson. So it’s not just some guy or gal who single-handedly owns the entire company.
Most small businesses are private companies, and there is a single owner. But for huge companies, many of them are public companies. And for them, the company is owned by the general public.
For companies like Johnson and Johnson, anyone can pay to own a piece of the company. A share of stock represents one share of ownership in a public company like Johnson and Johnson.
So if you buy a share of Johnson and Johnson stock, you are purchasing one share of an ownership stake in Johnson and Johnson.
Can I Make Money From Buying Johnson and Johnson Stock?
It’s certainly possible, although there is no guarantee that you will make money from buying Johnson and Johnson stock. There is risk involved any time you invest in the stock market.
You can check out our guides on how to make money in the stock market and the best stock picking services in order to improve your odds of profitability.
What Does Johnson and Johnson Do?
As per Johnson and Johnson’s website:
“Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company’s Consumer Health segment offers baby care products under the JOHNSON’S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; skin health\/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR. CI:LABO, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; TYLENOL acetaminophen products; SUDAFED cold, flu, and allergy products; BENADRYL and ZYRTEC allergy products; MOTRIN IB ibuprofen products; NICORETTE smoking cessation products; and PEPCID acid reflux products.”
When Was Johnson and Johnson Started?
Johnson and Johnson was incorporated in 1886.
Where Is Johnson and Johnson Located?
Johnson and Johnson is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
What Is The Exchange Where Johnson and Johnson Stock Is Traded?
Johnson and Johnson stock is traded on the NYSE exchange.
What Sector Is Johnson and Johnson In?
Johnson and Johnson is in the Healthcare sector.
What Industry Is Johnson and Johnson In?
Johnson and Johnson is in the Drug Manufacturers-General industry.