Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $165.06 and last traded at $165.52. Approximately 2,324,725 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 7,053,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased 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. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $399.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $153.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.28.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,149,536,000 after acquiring an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 worth $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $349,206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.