Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading 0.8% Higher

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares traded up 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $149.35 and last traded at $149.15. 2,175,283 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 7,218,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $360.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $155.83 and a 200-day moving average of $155.51.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,647,000 after buying an additional 2,064,175 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $193,050,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at about $170,372,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.