On February 24, 2023 at 15:39:39 (ET) an unusually large $1,690.50K block of Put contracts in Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) was bought, with a strike price of $180.00 / share, expiring in 112 days (on June 16, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 1.24 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 87.93 percentile of all recent large trades made in JNJ options.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 18.75% Upside

As of February 23, 2023, the average one-year price target for Johnson & Johnson is $187.30. The forecasts range from a low of $169.68 to a high of $225.75. The average price target represents an increase of 18.75% from its latest reported closing price of $157.73.

The projected annual revenue for Johnson & Johnson is $98,624MM, an increase of 3.88%. The projected annual EPS is $10.50, an increase of 53.70%.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 5233 funds or institutions reporting positions in Johnson & Johnson. This is an increase of 154 owner(s) or 3.03% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to JNJ is 1.17%, a decrease of 7.41%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 1.01% to 2,030,102K shares. The put/call ratio of JNJ is 0.81, indicating a bullish outlook.

What are large shareholders doing?

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 78,440K shares representing 3.01% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 77,489K shares, representing an increase of 1.21%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in JNJ by 2.89% over the last quarter.

VFINX – Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares holds 59,601K shares representing 2.29% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 58,244K shares, representing an increase of 2.28%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in JNJ by 2.62% over the last quarter.

Geode Capital Management holds 47,959K shares representing 1.84% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 47,664K shares, representing an increase of 0.61%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in JNJ by 0.59% over the last quarter.

Northern Trust holds 33,757K shares representing 1.30% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 33,728K shares, representing an increase of 0.09%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in JNJ by 67.69% over the last quarter.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance holds 31,675K shares representing 1.22% ownership of the company. No change in the last quarter.

Johnson & Johnson Declares $1.13 Dividend

On January 3, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $1.13 per share ($4.52 annualized). Shareholders of record as of February 21, 2023 will receive the payment on March 7, 2023. Previously, the company paid $1.13 per share.

At the current share price of $157.73 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 2.87%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 2.66%, the lowest has been 2.28%, and the highest has been 3.42%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.16 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 1.27 standard deviations above the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.66. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.19%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Johnson & Johnson Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Johnson & Johnson believes good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That’s why for more than 130 years, Johnson & Johnson has aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world’s largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson is committed to using its reach and size for good. Johnson & Johnson strives to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. Johnson & Johnson is blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity.

This article originally appeared on Fintel