Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Down 0.1% After Insider Selling

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price fell 0.1% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $153.24 and last traded at $154.80. 2,426,377 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 8,819,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.91.

Specifically, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during 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 during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.