Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 0.9% – Still a Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price was up 0.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $164.73 and last traded at $164.34. Approximately 1,569,283 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 7,031,431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $394.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $155.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $349,206,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.