Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $215.00 target price on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $148.95 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $358.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,685,000 after acquiring an additional 15,490 shares in the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,758,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% in the first quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 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.