Johnson & Johnson Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 58,414 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 69% compared to the typical volume of 34,611 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after acquiring an additional 7,110 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $949,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE JNJ traded up $1.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $159.37. 3,298,829 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,842,865. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The stock has a market cap of $383.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $148.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on JNJ. Bank of America decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

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.