Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Leerink Partnrs

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock opened at $146.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $352.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.09.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.