Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Johnson & Johnson Call Options (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 44,502 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 33% compared to the typical volume of 33,433 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,620,000 after purchasing an additional 498,647 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth about $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $162.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.26. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $166.21. The company has a market capitalization of $392.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.