Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Cut to $159.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target trimmed by Bank of America from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on JNJ. Citigroup decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.06.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $146.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $352.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.51. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.05.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22,438,500 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after buying an additional 1,154,088 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,064,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,763 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.