Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading 1.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 1.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $157.17 and last traded at $157.25. 1,637,742 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 8,813,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Day Solutions LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.