Morgan Stanley Boosts Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $176.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $176.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.87.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $163.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $393.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.41. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 33.07%. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,800,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,120 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,321,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,131,723,000 after acquiring an additional 130,645 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the period. 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.