Traders Purchase High Volume of Johnson & Johnson Call Options (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 50,491 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 36,103 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $453,000. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the first quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 74,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,526 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.9% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $164.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $396.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $153.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.71. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

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.