Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at Guggenheim

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on JNJ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock traded up $2.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $168.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,033,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,243,893. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.24. 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 capitalization of $406.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $1,339,878,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,948,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,149,536,000 after acquiring an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,206,000. 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.