Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.3%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $167.25 and last traded at $166.01. Approximately 549,714 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 7,165,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $400.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. 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.