Sanford C. Bernstein Increases Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $171.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price objective upped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report issued on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a neutral rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Sunday, June 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $175.00.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $154.69 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $148.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.34. The company has a market capitalization of $372.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.79%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 208,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,521,000 after purchasing an additional 7,685 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 248,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,371,000 after buying an additional 4,312 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 8,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.1% during the second quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 7,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 2,621,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,088,000 after acquiring an additional 41,492 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.