Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 23,100,000 shares, an increase of 25.9% from the February 13th total of 18,350,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 9,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % 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

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $164.24 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $155.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.25. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

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.