Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Down 2.6% - Here's Why

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) dropped 2.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $149.53 and last traded at $150.10. Approximately 2,539,436 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 7,885,763 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $358.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.