Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $215.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Raymond James reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $184.00 to $179.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Atlantic Securities boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $187.00 to $172.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $170.65.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $162.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $422.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $150.11 and a twelve month high of $181.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $166.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.83.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $25.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.63 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.72% and a net margin of 13.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 7th. Investors of record on Monday, August 28th were issued a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 25th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Peter Fasolo sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.32, for a total transaction of $3,406,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 102,696 shares in the company, valued at $17,491,182.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider William Hait sold 14,698 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $2,528,056.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,092,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Peter Fasolo sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.32, for a total value of $3,406,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 102,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,491,182.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1,044.4% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Kepos Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.40% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Consumer Health segment provides skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR. CI:LABO, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; baby care products under the JOHNSON'S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; TYLENOL acetaminophen products; SUDAFED cold, flu, and allergy products; BENADRYL and ZYRTEC allergy products; MOTRIN IB ibuprofen products; NICORETTE smoking cessation products; and PEPCID acid reflux products.