Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.1%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price shot up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $149.73 and last traded at $148.87. 1,253,023 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 7,369,177 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $358.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 16,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $247,000. Cohen Lawrence B increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 192.4% during the third quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 20,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,221,000 after buying an additional 13,608 shares during the period. Rosenbaum Jay D. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 243.0% in the third quarter. Rosenbaum Jay D. now owns 6,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 4,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Private Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% during the third quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management now owns 25,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,973,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.