Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Johnson & Johnson Put Options (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 88,712 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 190% compared to the typical volume of 30,626 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company's stock worth $9,607,414,000 after acquiring an additional 54,326,454 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company's stock worth $7,458,962,000 after acquiring an additional 4,521,062 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $4,609,399,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company's stock worth $3,764,852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,104,221 shares of the company's stock worth $3,464,617,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,883 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $169.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.36.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $144.77. 9,302,952 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,218,796. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.39 and a 52 week high of $175.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $156.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $348.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 37.27%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 34.47%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.