Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $151.33 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $364.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $154.01 and a 200 day moving average of $153.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $453,000. Horan Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 10,279 shares during the period. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 18.9% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.