Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates Overweight Rating for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $215.00 target price on the stock.

JNJ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $169.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $145.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $351.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $156.32 and a 200 day moving average of $155.68. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 29.68%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

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

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% in the 4th 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. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,962,000 after buying an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $4,609,399,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,104,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,464,617,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021,883 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.