HSBC Upgrades Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to Buy

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was upgraded by research analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $170.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $169.00. HSBC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.92% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $147.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $156.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.63.

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

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, 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. 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 company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,609,399,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,962,000 after acquiring an additional 4,521,062 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 61.0% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,287,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,868,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,512 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,104,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,464,617,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021,883 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.