Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $170.88.

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company's stock worth $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $453,000. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company's stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company's stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company's stock worth $1,487,000 after buying an additional 10,279 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.90. The stock had a trading volume of 6,587,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,963,253. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $153.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $377.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

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.