Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 60,066 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 46% compared to the typical daily volume of 41,174 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $159.90 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.63 and a 200-day moving average of $156.01. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $385.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

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.