Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $215.73 and last traded at $217.0040, with a volume of 964463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $240.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $529.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $23.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.73 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Tema Etfs LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Tema Etfs LLC now owns 68,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,255,000 after acquiring an additional 28,028 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Triad Investment Management acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $1,048,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 84,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,384,000 after purchasing an additional 10,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 27,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,664,000 after buying an additional 683 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 multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.