Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on JNJ. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a neutral rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.3 %

JNJ stock opened at $146.03 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $175.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $148.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $351.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after buying an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,945,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,483,532,000 after buying an additional 241,799 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,620,000 after buying an additional 498,647 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.