Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 3.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares fell 3.1% on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $160.00 to $159.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson traded as low as $142.11 and last traded at $143.55. 5,436,238 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 8,514,245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.15.

JNJ has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the second quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $345.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $148.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 71.78%.

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.