Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares shot up 0.2% on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $185.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as high as $165.00 and last traded at $164.54. 1,124,651 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 7,016,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.28.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 500,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,187,000 after purchasing an additional 17,197 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 249.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 41,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,662,000 after buying an additional 29,329 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.2% in the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 3,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 111,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,045,000 after acquiring an additional 3,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $396.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $162.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.59.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.