Brokerages Set Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) PT at $171.82

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.82.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $154.54 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $371.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $159.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.84. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, 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.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.