Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price Up 0.2%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares were up 0.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $159.25 and last traded at $158.21. Approximately 626,257 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 7,292,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 30th. Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $395.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.19.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.