Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $178.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $175.00 to $178.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $173.43.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $161.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $388.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $162.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,464,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares during the period. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,695,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.