Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 1.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $175.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as low as $147.25 and last traded at $147.31. Approximately 1,719,960 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 7,071,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.23.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.73.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,755,874,000 after buying an additional 1,154,088 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,064,149,000 after buying an additional 1,004,763 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after buying an additional 1,265,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,858,543,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $157.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.42. The firm has a market cap of $353.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.51.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

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.