Traders Buy Large Volume of Johnson & Johnson Call Options (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 61,885 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 39% compared to the average daily volume of 44,679 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report 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 research report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.3 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $157.42 on Friday. 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 moving average is $159.49 and its 200-day moving average is $154.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction 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 $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 52,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Wolf Group Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.5% during the first quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 15,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the last quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Clarius Group LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 24,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after buying an additional 3,232 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.