Morgan Stanley Boosts Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $178.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $178.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 6.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.94.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.2%

JNJ stock opened at $190.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $178.48 and its 200 day moving average is $163.77. The stock has a market cap of $459.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $192.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth $27,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 55.0% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth $35,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.