Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $154.49 and last traded at $154.02. 1,222,790 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 9,064,186 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $368.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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 firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during 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 34.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after buying an additional 7,110 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $949,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 102,502 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.