Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $164.13 and last traded at $163.78. 3,440,645 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 7,035,968 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Leerink Partners cut 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.25. The firm has a market cap of $393.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,996,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.