Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) CFO Joseph J. Wolk sold 14,781 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.60, for a total value of $2,654,667.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,431,835.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through. this hy

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.3%

JNJ stock traded down $2.27 on Thursday, hitting $177.49. 7,602,266 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,324,414. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $16high. has a 50 day moving average price of $172.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $464.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.57.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 18th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 19.95%. The firm had revenue of $23.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 21st. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.95%.

Johnson & Johnson declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 14th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.2% of its market through stock open purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Atlantic Securities decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $192.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $176.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Credit Suisse Group initiated coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company . Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $178.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.42.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 245,340,875 shares of the company’s stock valued 70,8 at $40, purchasing an additional 2,815,655 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 200,799,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 777,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 141,886,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,178,548,000 after purchasing an additional 803,013 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,772,594 share s of the company’s stock valued at $5,808,286,000 after purchasing an additional 265,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the 1st York Mellon New quarter. Bank of Mell 32,070,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,683,837,000 after purchasing an additional 509,818 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.59% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company’s Consumer Health segment offers baby care products under the JOHNSON’S and AVEENO Baby INTER ISTER brands; oral care under the Lbrs skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR.

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