Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $175.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered 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 report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $164.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,454,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 5,680 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 36,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,764,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 637,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,947,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645 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, 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.