Wells Fargo & Company Increases Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $166.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $163.00 to $166.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $164.28 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $162.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.59. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The firm has a market cap of $395.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 217.1% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.