Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $215.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on JNJ. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $167.02 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $401.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $159.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.98. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 89,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,041,000 after purchasing an additional 7,032 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 8,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,282,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $389,000. 69.55% of the stock is 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.