Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Daiwa America cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $165.52 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $159.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $398.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after buying an additional 3,391,657 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,100,427,000 after buying an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.