Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Receives Neutral Rating from Guggenheim

Guggenheim restated their neutral rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.5 %

JNJ opened at $167.57 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.28. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $403.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $349,206,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.