Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 2.2% – Still a Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price was up 2.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $248.94 and last traded at $248.8070. Approximately 16,134,279 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 70% from the average daily volume of 9,504,079 shares. The stock had previously closed at $243.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on JNJ. Loop Capital set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Freedom Capital downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $262.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.70.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $599.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.09.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.28 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 28.46% and a return on equity of 33.04%. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total value of $1,508,287.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,598,700.17. This represents a 21.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total transaction of $5,527,477.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,769 shares in the company, valued at $6,540,469.77. The trade was a 45.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,142 shares of company stock worth $7,360,528 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $6,924,523,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $2,005,942,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 15,040.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,420,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,512,000 after acquiring an additional 7,371,687 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 240,349,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,740,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,423,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,571,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,655,754 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.