Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $181.00 price objective on the stock.

JNJ has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $157.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $380.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.86. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.