Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price shot up 0.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $156.13 and last traded at $155.24. Approximately 1,346,143 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 9,576,136 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on JNJ. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report 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 16th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $375.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. 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’s fifty day moving average is $158.85 and its 200-day moving average is $154.61.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.