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

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $149.73 and last traded at $149.18. 1,114,587 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 7,368,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JNJ. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $153.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction 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 that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,175 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $193,050,000. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $193,996,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.