Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.1%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $146.43 and last traded at $146.68. Approximately 823,093 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 7,354,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.07. The stock has a market cap of $351.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.24 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

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

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.