Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Up 2.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares traded up 2.7% on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $164.00 to $169.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as high as $157.68 and last traded at $158.11. 2,942,555 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 7,936,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.91.

JNJ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.78.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % 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 large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock 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 company has a market capitalization of $380.95 billion, a PE ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

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.