Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Leerink Partnrs

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

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on JNJ. Barclays decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE JNJ opened at $146.39 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $156.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.09. The stock has a market cap of $352.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 57.84%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $1,339,878,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at $1,369,188,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after buying an additional 7,185,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.