Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $199.05.

JNJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Daiwa America raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at $31,652,491.53. The trade was a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 55.0% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $186.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $184.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.63. The stock has a market cap of $449.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $194.48.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 32.73%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.19%.

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.