Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Downgraded by Leerink Partners to “Market Perform”

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was downgraded by stock analysts at Leerink Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $153.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $169.00. Leerink Partners’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.52% from the company’s previous close.

JNJ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $146.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $156.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.09. The company has a market capitalization of $352.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 38.9% during the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 36,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,094,000 after purchasing an additional 10,296 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at about $94,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% during the first quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 442,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,443,000 after purchasing an additional 6,407 shares in the last quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.3% during the first quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 20.3% during the first quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.