Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Cut to “Market Perform” at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $153.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $169.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $148.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.14. The stock has a market cap of $357.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.