Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $215.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. They issued an outperform rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Eight research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $169.19.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $149.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $144.95 and a 1 year high of $181.04. The firm has a market cap of $360.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.58.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 17th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.14. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 37.14% and a net margin of 36.32%. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 35.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% during the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% during the third quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.40% 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 Consumer Health segment provides skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR. CI:LABO, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; baby care products under the JOHNSON'S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; TYLENOL acetaminophen products; SUDAFED cold, flu, and allergy products; BENADRYL and ZYRTEC allergy products; MOTRIN IB ibuprofen products; NICORETTE smoking cessation products; and PEPCID acid reflux products.