Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Short Interest Update

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,760,000 shares, an increase of 9.1% from the January 15th total of 17,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded down $1.05 on Friday, hitting $156.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,402,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,304,454. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.87 and a 200-day moving average of $155.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Powers Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.