Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Price Target Raised to $171.00 at Morgan Stanley

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $169.00 to $171.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.00.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $156.87. 7,866,488 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,077,942. The company has a market cap of $377.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $153.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.42% and a return on equity of 33.46%. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,369,188,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,450.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,215,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,196,596,000 after buying an additional 7,185,977 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,149,536,000 after buying an additional 4,559,147 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.