Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Raised to $171.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price boosted by Bank of America from $159.00 to $171.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on JNJ. Citigroup lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.1 %

JNJ opened at $165.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $397.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $152.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.19. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business 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 company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

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

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.