Johnson & Johnson Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 60,066 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 46% compared to the average volume of 41,174 call options.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $4.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $159.85. The stock had a trading volume of 7,206,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,736,021. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $159.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.98. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a market capitalization of $385.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after acquiring an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.1% during the third quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,626,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,638,000 after buying an additional 31,334 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 29.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 219,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,588,000 after acquiring an additional 49,307 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

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.