Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Price

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $163.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.07% from the company’s current price.

JNJ has been the subject of several other research reports. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.06.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

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

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22,438,500 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 9,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $672,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 137.4% in the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 100,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,599,000 after purchasing an additional 58,424 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 564,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,675,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 16,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 6,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.