Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Rating Increased to Buy at HSBC

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was upgraded by equities researchers at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $170.00 target price on the stock. HSBC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.43% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on JNJ. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $144.77 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.39 and a 1-year high of $175.97. The stock has a market cap of $348.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.74.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,758,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 4,457 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,458,000. RAM Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.6% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,921,000 after buying an additional 2,102 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.