Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading 0.4% Higher - Should You Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $155.81 and last traded at $155.18. 1,228,516 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 7,902,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $373.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.80.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, research 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. Investors 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 189,291 shares of the company's stock worth $31,146,000 after acquiring an additional 22,991 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 23.6% in the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 517,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,904,000 after acquiring an additional 99,040 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,649,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at about $264,000. 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.

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