Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 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 were traded 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.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on JNJ. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.1 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $162.65 and a 200 day moving average of $154.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $386.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.