Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Johnson & Johnson Call Options (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 45,802 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average daily volume of 32,506 call 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 dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 9.7% during the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Bell Bank boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 20.6% in the first quarter. Bell Bank now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the first quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 11,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 18.2% in the first quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 43,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,958,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $294,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $149.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $360.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.51. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.68%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.