Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.4%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $157.40 and last traded at $156.33. 1,693,340 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 7,063,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $167.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.31.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $381.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.69.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $21.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.02 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 37.27% and a net margin of 37.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.47%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 141,833,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,476,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,633 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,607,414,000 after buying an additional 54,326,454 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,962,000 after acquiring an additional 4,521,062 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $4,609,399,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.