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

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 60,066 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 46% compared to the typical daily volume of 41,174 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 4.3 %

JNJ stock opened at $153.03 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $368.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $159.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.91.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.