Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $150.00, but opened at $142.20. Johnson & Johnson shares last traded at $146.04, with a volume of 2,551,151 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.0 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. IFS Advisors LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $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.