Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $154.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.13. The company has a market cap of $370.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the second quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the third quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.