Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Earns Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.93% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.23 on Thursday, reaching $156.35. 1,600,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,270,089. 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 twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $148.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.39.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in 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 stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,620,000 after purchasing an additional 498,647 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.