Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Increases Dividend to $1.30 Per Share

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 15th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of 1.30 per share on Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is a 4.8% increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24.

Johnson & Johnson has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 63 consecutive years. Johnson & Johnson has a dividend payout ratio of 45.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Johnson & Johnson to earn $11.07 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.8%.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $153.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.39 and a 200-day moving average of $155.10. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $370.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JNJ. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Johnson & Johnson stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,876 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,332 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other 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.