Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Rating Reiterated by Cantor Fitzgerald

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $215.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 34.00% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.43.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $160.45. 1,195,020 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,029,788. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.41. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $386.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 217.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.