Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Up 0% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) traded up 0% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $164.39 and last traded at $163.65. 1,244,081 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 7,066,249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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. Raymond James reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $393.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $156.99 and its 200-day moving average is $156.17.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after purchasing an additional 111,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,723,000 after buying an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $365,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,957,000 after acquiring an additional 10,439 shares in the last quarter. 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.