Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Given “Outperform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $175.00 price objective on the stock.

JNJ has been the topic of several other research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.6 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.15. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 101,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,880,000 after purchasing an additional 35,481 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.3% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 21,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after buying an additional 3,087 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 8.6% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 89,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,041,000 after purchasing an additional 7,032 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.2% during the second quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 8,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.