Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Lowered to $175.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $181.00 to $175.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $169.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $176.36.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $144.77 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $156.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.74. The company has a market cap of $348.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.39 and a twelve month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,962,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521,062 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $4,609,399,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,104,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,464,617,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,883 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.