Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Increased to $171.00 by Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price increased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a neutral rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday. Six 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $174.64.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $154.69 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $148.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $372.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.79% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,945,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,483,532,000 after purchasing an additional 241,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,620,000 after purchasing an additional 498,647 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.