Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Up 1% – Here’s What Happened

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price rose 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $152.79 and last traded at $152.66. Approximately 1,159,197 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 9,281,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.44.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.10. 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 $367.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth $49,000. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 5,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 43,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,296,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth about $283,000. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,973,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.