Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Upgraded to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $172.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $157.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded down $4.15 on Wednesday, hitting $146.82. The company had a trading volume of 6,704,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,912,385. The stock has a market cap of $353.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $159.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.37.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at $69,859,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,662,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.