Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.1% on Insider Selling

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares traded down 0.1% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $153.24 and last traded at $154.80. 2,426,377 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 8,819,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.91.

Specifically, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.