Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.06.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $146.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.99. The stock has a market cap of $353.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22,438,500 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 9,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $672,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 137.4% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 100,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,599,000 after buying an additional 58,424 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 564,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,675,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 16,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 6,120 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.