Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Raised to $166.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $163.00 to $166.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.4 %

JNJ stock opened at $165.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $397.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.69. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,826,000 after buying an additional 3,244,862 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,925 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at $331,178,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.