Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 5.4% on Strong Earnings

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares shot up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $164.70 and last traded at $163.57. 5,130,806 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 8,975,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.17.

The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. The company had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,800,371,000 after buying an additional 1,170,120 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,131,723,000 after buying an additional 130,645 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 6.2%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $153.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $396.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41.

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.