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

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $262.00 to $267.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.03% from the stock’s current price.

JNJ has been the topic of several other research reports. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.17.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $238.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $241.29 and a 200-day moving average of $215.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $574.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $146.12 and a 12-month high of $251.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $24.28 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 28.46%. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 1,322 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.66, for a total transaction of $324,762.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,447 shares in the company, valued at $6,251,310.02. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total value of $1,508,287.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,700.17. This represents a 21.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 632.0% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 89,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,536,000 after acquiring an additional 77,000 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 130,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,769 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,383,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,994 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 1,234,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,638,000 after acquiring an additional 94,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,926,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $913,484,000 after acquiring an additional 151,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

More Johnson & Johnson News

Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson & Johnson this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $267 and kept an “Overweight” rating, signaling roughly double-digit upside versus current levels and supporting buy-side interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Other broker notes (Guggenheim, Citi, and various upgrades) have recently pushed bullish research and helped intraday rallies. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial/MedTech catalyst — J&J launched the VARIPULSE Pro pulsed field ablation system in Europe after CE mark approval, adding potential device revenue upside and real‑world evidence generation. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend profile remains a tailwind for income investors — long streak of annual increases (>60 years) supports total‑return buyers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fair‑value/target updates are moving modestly (consensus fair value around ~$241.7) — analysts are lifting some targets while flagging execution as the next focus, keeping valuation views mixed. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market is positioning for Q1 earnings — multiple previews and Wall Street estimate rundowns are circulating; that typically increases volatility into the print. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators are cautioning that this is “time to sell the rally” into Q1, arguing upside expectations may be priced in and that near‑term catalysts could disappoint. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing risks — litigation exposure, biosimilar competition and pricing pressure are repeatedly flagged as potential earnings/headwind items that could cap upside. Read More.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.