Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $176.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 7.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.87.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $163.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $393.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $154.29 and a 200 day moving average of $154.97. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 33.07%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $453,000. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the first quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 74,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,635,000 after buying an additional 2,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.