Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares traded down 0.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $162.21 and last traded at $162.59. Approximately 1,026,318 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 6,983,601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $163.41 and its 200-day moving average is $155.07. The stock has a market cap of $387.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.46% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 71.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after acquiring an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after purchasing an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,921,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,357,000 after buying an additional 437,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.