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

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 88,712 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 190% compared to the average daily volume of 30,626 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $169.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 219.2% during the first quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 4,070 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.4% during the first quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 91.5% in the first quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 4,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the first quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,486,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 63.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 52,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,343,000 after acquiring an additional 20,446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $144.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $156.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.74. The company has a market capitalization of $348.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.39 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 37.27% and a net margin of 37.79%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.47%.

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.