Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 2% – Time to Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price shot up 2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $241.46 and last traded at $239.93. 6,445,433 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 9,042,780 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.91.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $236.15 and its 200 day moving average is $209.61. The company has a market cap of $577.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.06%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 1,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.66, for a total transaction of $324,762.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,251,310.02. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,700.17. This trade represents a 21.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 632.0% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 89,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,536,000 after purchasing an additional 77,000 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 130,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,769 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,383,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,216,000 after purchasing an additional 5,994 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.3% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 1,234,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,638,000 after buying an additional 94,957 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,926,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $913,484,000 after buying an additional 151,707 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.