Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) rose 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $162.49 and last traded at $162.20. Approximately 1,414,944 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 7,061,806 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $389.62 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $157.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.14.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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 worth $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the third 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 holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. 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.