Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading 1.3% Higher - Time to Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $153.72 and last traded at $153.70. 2,560,077 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 7,932,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.72.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $379.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $159.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.06.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. On average, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently 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.