Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 0.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price rose 0.3% during trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $175.00 to $178.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as high as $160.45 and last traded at $160.14. Approximately 838,529 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 7,033,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.69.

JNJ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa America lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.43.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391,657 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after buying an additional 754,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,921,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829,257 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $385.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.59 and its 200 day moving average is $154.36.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.