Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Short Interest Update

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 23,100,000 shares, a growth of 25.9% from the February 13th total of 18,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1 %

JNJ stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $162.94. The company had a trading volume of 6,667,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,026,413. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The company has a market capitalization of $392.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $155.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.26.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

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.