Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $181.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.12% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on JNJ. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $154.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,952,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,705,863. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.16 and a 200-day moving average of $155.99. 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 stock has a market cap of $372.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $349,206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.