Daiwa America Lowers Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to Hold

Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Sunday, June 30th. HSBC upgraded 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. TD Securities cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Eight investment 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, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $159.70 on Tuesday. 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 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $148.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.25. The company has a market capitalization of $384.35 billion, a PE ratio of 9.96, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.79% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.