Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.82.

JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $153.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,455,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,896,155. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $370.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $159.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.92.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock worth $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company's stock worth $4,456,201,000 after buying an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

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.