Morgan Stanley Increases Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $175.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $169.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.39% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on JNJ. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock opened at $164.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $395.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.66.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 24,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,831,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 18,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,885,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,205,000 after acquiring an additional 3,459 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 74.2% in the 1st quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 34,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.