UPDATE: Jefferies Upgrades Johnson & Johnson

In a report published earlier today, Jefferies upgraded Johnson & Johnson JNJ from a Hold to Buy rating and raised its price target from $68 to $72. Jefferies stated, “Management has beaten expectations by re-engineering the financing of the Synthes merger. Instead of a dilutive stock issuance followed by a share buyback program, the company has borrowed stock through an accelerated share repurchase agreement, which transforms the transaction into an accretive deal. The net effect is to raise our mid-term earnings estimates by 4-5% and we have upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold as a result.” JNJ closed at $63.08 on Tuesday.