Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $157.02 and last traded at $156.43. Approximately 1,170,596 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 7,027,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JNJ. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.21 and a 200 day moving average of $156.32. The firm has a market cap of $374.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,064,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,763 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,744,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831,751 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.