Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Down 0.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares were down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Raymond James lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $162.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as low as $152.10 and last traded at $153.27. Approximately 3,332,488 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 7,947,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.36.

JNJ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $371.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.