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

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price increased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $164.00 to $169.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.17% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on JNJ. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.78.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.8 %

JNJ traded up $1.18 on Wednesday, reaching $154.80. 2,717,045 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,953,258. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $373.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 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.