Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Down 1%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares dropped 1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $147.82 and last traded at $148.45. Approximately 1,794,661 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 7,412,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.08.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391,657 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7,875.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,175 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $193,050,000. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $193,996,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.