Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.2%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $144.74 and last traded at $145.69. Approximately 3,246,157 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 6,347,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on JNJ. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, June 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

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 company has a market cap of $350.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,685,000 after acquiring an additional 15,490 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% in the first quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.