Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) EVP Sells $62,928.45 in Stock

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $159.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $148.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.89.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after acquiring an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $949,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% in the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.