Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 0.7%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares were down 0.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $145.37 and last traded at $145.76. Approximately 1,040,170 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 7,364,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JNJ. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.84.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.63 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 495.4% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 67,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,549,000 after buying an additional 56,352 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 71,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,181,000 after purchasing an additional 12,611 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $2,347,000. Fosun International Ltd lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% during the third quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 30,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after buying an additional 2,461 shares during the period. Finally, Loudon Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.