Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

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

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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 dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.2 %

JNJ stock opened at $148.95 on Monday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.47 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Johnson & Johnson 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 transaction of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.6% during the first quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 39,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,231,000 after purchasing an additional 4,403 shares during the period. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the first quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 65,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,324,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 31.5% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,826,000 after acquiring an additional 8,812 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 127.5% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 37,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,947,000 after acquiring an additional 21,071 shares during the period. Finally, Barings LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.