Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading 1.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price shot up 1.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $156.23 and last traded at $157.04. 1,371,506 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,797,835 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $380.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $147.58 and a 200 day moving average of $156.00.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after buying an additional 1,154,088 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.