Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Upgraded by HSBC to Buy

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was upgraded by HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $170.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $169.00. HSBC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.92% from the company’s previous close.

JNJ has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $147.93 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $356.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $156.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.63.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the third quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,758,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $1,458,000. RAM Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.6% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.