Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Increased to $185.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $165.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $397.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $162.98 and a 200-day moving average of $154.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 24,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,831,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the first quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 18,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,885,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,205,000 after acquiring an additional 3,459 shares during the period. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 74.2% during the 1st quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 34,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.