Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $210.25.

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Daiwa America raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at $4,877,174,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 15,040.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,420,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,512,000 after buying an additional 7,371,687 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 545.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,865,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,657,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266,354 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,209,060,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 159.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,159,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557,388 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $207.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $500.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.36. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $215.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $199.67 and its 200 day moving average is $181.03. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company 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 anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.19%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.