Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 0.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $162.49 and last traded at $162.20. 1,414,944 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 7,061,806 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $389.62 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $157.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.14.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business 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. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $154,000. Nestegg Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $251,000. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $883,000. Finally, DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $2,888,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.