Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $171.33.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after buying an additional 9,309 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $393.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $158.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.23. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.