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

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 201,479 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 468% compared to the typical daily volume of 35,489 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Scotiabank started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $198.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total value of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,209,060,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085,180 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,609,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,227,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,877,174,000. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 worth $5,131,723,000 after buying an additional 130,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,832,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,789,914,000 after buying an additional 956,239 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.1%

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $206.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $188.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.13. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $206.94. The stock has a market cap of $496.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 32.73%. Equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.19%.

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.