Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Raised to $212.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price objective raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $186.00 to $212.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $200.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.94.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $190.66 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.77. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $192.10. The firm has a market cap of $459.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%.The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Diversified Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.7% in the third quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 9,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 21.8% in the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 15,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,931,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 177.4% in the third quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 4,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 3,032 shares during the period. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 15.0% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth about $242,000. Hedge funds and other 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.