Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $194.66 and last traded at $194.2750, with a volume of 1596315 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $193.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on JNJ. Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $190.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Argus set a $210.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.31. The company has a market cap of $468.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. The trade was a 24.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,209,060,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,609,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,227,988,000 after buying an additional 1,225,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,877,174,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,131,723,000 after acquiring an additional 130,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,637,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,568,313,000 after purchasing an additional 835,146 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.