Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.8% – Here’s Why

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $163.03 and last traded at $162.92. 892,432 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,029,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $393.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.34.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. 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 firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $2,888,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $2,471,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,238,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 235,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,086,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares during the period. Finally, Members Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.