Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price fell 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $164.31 and last traded at $164.67. 844,956 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 6,990,474 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $163.29 and a 200 day moving average of $154.92.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the third quarter. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 38,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 35,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,809,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301 shares during the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.0% during the third quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 45,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Mattern Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the third quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 49,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,951,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,411,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $712,956,000 after acquiring an additional 52,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.