Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 2.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) fell 2.1% during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $168.00 to $167.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as low as $143.39 and last traded at $144.45. 12,774,859 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 95% from the average session volume of 6,557,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.59.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,962,000 after acquiring an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,609,399,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,104,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,464,617,000 after buying an additional 4,021,883 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.7 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.68. The firm has a market cap of $351.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.68%.

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.