The blue chip has added 15% over the past 12 months
Blue chip Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is fresh off an earnings blunder, down 1.7% this morning, last seen at $146.70. The company reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $1.88 per share, but missed revenue estimates and forecast a weak full-year profit, triggering today's drop-off. Long term the equity has been climbing, up nearly 16% from its October bottom near $126. Multiple pullbacks have been captured by the 30-day moving average in this time frame, guiding the stock to its now 15% year-over-year lead.
In the options pits, call traders have been flocking toward the security. Data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows Johnson & Johnson stock with a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.38, ranking in the 95th percentile of its annual range. In simpler terms, more than two calls have been purchased for every put on JNJ during the past two weeks of trading.
Echoing this sentiment, the equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.46 sits in the bottom percentile of its annual range. This means short-term speculators are more call-heavy than usual.