Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 0.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares traded up 0.7% during trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $159.00 to $166.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as high as $151.86 and last traded at $151.45. 1,567,021 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 9,421,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.38.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on JNJ. Leerink Partners decreased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Invst LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.7% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,122,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,277,000 after acquiring an additional 98,903 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $364.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $147.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.13.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.56 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s 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.