Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,037,072 shares of the company’s stock after selling 331,689 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $253,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 240,349,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,740,362,000 after buying an additional 3,731,074 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 133,869,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,704,364,000 after buying an additional 1,663,782 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 69,419,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,633,000 after acquiring an additional 69,108,368 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,953,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,967,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,924,523,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Johnson & Johnson

Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson & Johnson this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim raised its price target on Johnson & Johnson to $270 from $266 and reiterated a Buy rating, reinforcing bullish analyst sentiment after recent strength in the shares. Benzinga reference
• Positive Sentiment: The company said new data from its IMAAVY (nipocalimab-aahu) program support sustained disease control in generalized myasthenia gravis, adding to optimism around its immunology pipeline and future growth prospects. PR Newswire reference
• Positive Sentiment: European regulators also issued a CHMP recommendation advancing TECVAYLI plus daratumumab as a potential standard of care in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, which could help support J&J’s oncology franchise. Article reference
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market commentary also points to healthcare stocks like Johnson & Johnson becoming a haven for investors rotating out of tech, which is helping lift sentiment across the sector. MarketWatch reference
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles also highlighted J&J as a “best stock for beginners” and a dependable dividend name, but those are more general reputation pieces than immediate stock-moving catalysts. Article reference
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are still looking for only single-digit earnings growth ahead of the next quarterly report, so while expectations remain solid, the near-term upside may depend on continued pipeline and product execution. Article reference

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total transaction of $2,411,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,560,551.20. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $254.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $612.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $151.01 and a one year high of $255.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $230.92 and a 200 day moving average of $229.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.02. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 32.60%. The business had revenue of $24.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 61.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $237.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.70.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.