Johnson & Johnson Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 61,885 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 39% compared to the typical volume of 44,679 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm's 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $3.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $157.42. 10,972,370 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,953,112. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. 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. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $159.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.72.

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.