Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading 1.4% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 1.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $166.39 and last traded at $166.08. 2,076,478 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 7,603,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 7.6 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors 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.