Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Given New $175.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $169.00 to $175.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.62% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on JNJ. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.77.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $164.14 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $395.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its 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. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,862 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,925 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at $331,178,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 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.