Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of JNJ traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $159.37. 3,298,829 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,842,865. 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 has a market cap of $383.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.86. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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 business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.