Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) PT Lowered to $167.00 at Morgan Stanley

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $168.00 to $167.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

JNJ has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $147.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $356.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.63.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is a positive change 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 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,609,399,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,962,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.0% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,287,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,868,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,104,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,464,617,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021,883 shares during the last quarter. 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.