Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price objective decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $170.00 to $155.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on JNJ. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.06.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.9 %

JNJ opened at $146.58 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $148.10 and its 200 day moving average is $156.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

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

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.