Johnson & Johnson Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 45,802 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average daily volume of 32,506 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $1.21 on Monday, reaching $149.12. The company had a trading volume of 9,599,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,317,319. The firm has a market cap of $359.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $156.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.63. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.