Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.24

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 15th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of 1.24 per share on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th.

Johnson & Johnson has raised its dividend by an average of 5.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 63 years. Johnson & Johnson has a payout ratio of 46.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Johnson & Johnson to earn $10.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.1%.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $155.17 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $160.21 and a 200 day moving average of $156.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $373.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.