Short Interest in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Declines By 14.3%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,740,000 shares, a decrease of 14.3% from the September 15th total of 23,030,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $161.60. The stock had a trading volume of 5,889,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,034,080. The company has a market cap of $388.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $162.59 and its 200-day moving average is $154.46. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 988,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,181,000 after purchasing an additional 41,082 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 35.4% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 49,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,968,000 after buying an additional 12,856 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 25.6% in the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 73,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,910,000 after acquiring an additional 8,978 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.