Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) were down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $161.10 and last traded at $161.85. Approximately 1,521,896 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 7,061,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $154.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,755,874,000 after buying an additional 1,154,088 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $4,390,037,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.