Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price was down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $162.25 and last traded at $162.34. Approximately 1,262,772 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 7,022,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of 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 issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine 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, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $393.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.33.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.