Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price was down 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $151.51 and last traded at $152.37. Approximately 1,366,571 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,968,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.00.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $369.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson 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 value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth $765,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 101,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,015,000 after buying an additional 32,244 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 72,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,448,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Bey Douglas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Bey Douglas LLC now owns 1,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 111,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,660,000 after buying an additional 4,942 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.