Bank of America Lowers Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $159.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.34% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.06.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $146.76 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.98. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.35%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22,438,500 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,088 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,064,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,763 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,440,000 after buying an additional 1,265,748 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after buying an additional 1,729,281 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.