StockNews.com Lowers Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to Buy

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $148.74 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company has a market cap of $357.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.38.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 85,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after buying an additional 2,377 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,896,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,094,000 after purchasing an additional 51,716 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 65,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,154,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 79,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,548 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,489,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,952,000 after purchasing an additional 43,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.