Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Lifted to Buy at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. HSBC currently has $170.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $169.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.5 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $147.91 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $356.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.63.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. 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 modified their holdings of JNJ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,609,399,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,962,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,287,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,278,512 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,104,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,464,617,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,883 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.