Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment 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 twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.33.

A number of analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $166.81 on Monday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.24. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $401.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aegis Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $490,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $174,000. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $313,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.