Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.5% - Time to Buy?

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $153.80 and last traded at $153.29. 1,243,787 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 7,941,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $364.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.