Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Rating Lowered by Leerink Partnrs

Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.4%

JNJ stock opened at $146.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.09.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. 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 Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $1,339,878,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $1,369,188,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after purchasing an additional 7,185,977 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 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 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.