Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

JNJ has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Daiwa America raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.52.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of JNJ stock traded up $0.75 on Wednesday, hitting $196.00. The stock had a trading volume of 8,824,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,815,848. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $197.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $185.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.66. The firm has a market cap of $472.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%.The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Clayton Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 55.0% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.