Wells Fargo & Company Increases Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target to $166.00

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $163.00 to $166.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.92% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $164.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $395.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $162.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.66. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 24,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,831,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the first quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 18,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,885,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the first quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,205,000 after purchasing an additional 3,459 shares during the period. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 74.2% in the first quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 34,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,473,000 after buying an additional 2,448 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.