Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $215.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price points to a potential upside of 30.97% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on JNJ. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $164.16 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $168.85.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391,657 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $331,178,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.