Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Down 2% on Analyst Downgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) shares fell 2% during trading on Thursday after Raymond James lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $162.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as low as $147.50 and last traded at $148.01. 2,915,152 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 7,897,443 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.97.

JNJ has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.50.

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Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction 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. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock worth $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock worth $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in 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 buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

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.