Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Receives $174.07 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $174.07.

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the first quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% during 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 own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $146.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $175.97. The firm has a market cap of $351.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

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.