Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on JNJ. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Loop Capital set a $220.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $262.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.73.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $243.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $218.09 and its 200 day moving average is $197.35. The company has a market cap of $586.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $141.50 and a 1 year high of $246.35.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 28.46%.The firm had revenue of $24.28 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 11,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $272,000. TritonPoint Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $1,936,000. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,184,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,087,000 after buying an additional 5,670 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.