Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) shot up 5.4% on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.07% and a net margin of 25.00%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS.
Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement
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 paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.61%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
JNJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.11.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Johnson & Johnson
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth approximately $1,369,188,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after buying an additional 7,185,977 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.
Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.8%
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 business's 50-day moving average price is $154.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.84. The company has a market capitalization of $395.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.41.
About Johnson & Johnson
(
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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.
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