Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $164.00 to $169.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 7.35% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.72.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $157.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.06. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.