Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares rose 0.8% on Tuesday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $162.00 to $166.00. Guggenheim currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as high as $153.54 and last traded at $153.09. Approximately 2,282,367 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 9,150,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.87.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,064,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,763 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $369.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $147.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

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.