Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Down 1.1% – Here’s Why

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares traded down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $163.83 and last traded at $163.64. 1,982,760 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 6,986,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reduced their price objective 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. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $401.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $152.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.25.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson 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 value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Aegis Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $490,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $174,000. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.