Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) Underweight Rating Reiterated at UBS AG

UBS AG reissued their underweight rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, www.flashratings.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on JNJ. BidaskClub upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Saturday, June 17th. Jefferies Group LLC reiterated a hold rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Sunday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a buy rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 15th. Atlantic Securities cut Johnson & Johnson from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and set a $113.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $133.91.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) traded down 0.28% during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $131.68. 4,133,347 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The stock has a market cap of $353.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28 and a beta of 0.78. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $109.32 and a one year high of $137.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $132.91 and a 200-day moving average of $127.75. Johnson & Johnson also was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 12,648 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 342% compared to the typical volume of 2,863 put options.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $18.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.94 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 26.76% and a net margin of 22.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post $7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.76%.

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Dominic J. Caruso sold 82,591 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.72, for a total transaction of $11,291,841.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 226,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,993,466.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paulus Stoffels sold 102,692 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.14, for a total value of $13,672,412.88. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 230,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,667,733.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harding Loevner LP purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth $106,000. Lenox Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the first quarter. Lenox Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 29.9% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co. Ltd. now owns 870 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $117,000. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 46.4% in the second quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 3,467 shares during the period. 66.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which is engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sale of a range of products in the healthcare field. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices. Its primary focus is products related to human health and well-being.