Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Lowered to Hold at Daiwa America

Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Sunday, June 30th. TD Securities cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $160.68 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $175.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $148.74 and its 200 day moving average is $153.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $386.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.79%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.