Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Lowered to $175.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price objective trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $181.00 to $175.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $169.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $176.36.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $144.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $348.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.39 and a 12-month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.68%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.6% in the first quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 67,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,327 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 88.9% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 175,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,049,000 after acquiring an additional 82,429 shares during the period. AMI Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 45,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,095,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% in the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 860,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,488,000 after acquiring an additional 20,528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.