Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 1.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price was up 1.3% on Monday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $204.00 to $220.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as high as $215.19 and last traded at $214.4110. Approximately 8,424,441 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 8,893,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.58.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on JNJ. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $190.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday. Daiwa America raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Clayton Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $516.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $196.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued 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 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.