Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Short Interest Update

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,670,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the April 15th total of 16,560,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 7,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2 %

JNJ stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $154.64. 6,521,794 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,884,866. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.02. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $372.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.55.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.68%.

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.