Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Up 0.2%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $161.33 and last traded at $160.85. 1,223,302 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 7,118,186 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, September 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday. TD Securities cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $387.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Clifford Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 101,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,880,000 after acquiring an additional 35,481 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 21,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,212,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 89,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,041,000 after buying an additional 7,032 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 8,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,282,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.