Guggenheim Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Guggenheim reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on JNJ. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $159.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $368.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,155,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,626,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,638,000 after acquiring an additional 31,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 219,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,588,000 after acquiring an additional 49,307 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.