Johnson & Johnson $JNJ Shares Purchased by Ascentis Independent Advisors

Ascentis Independent Advisors increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 57.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,150 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,224 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.7% of Ascentis Independent Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Ascentis Independent Advisors’ holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 69,419,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,633,000 after acquiring an additional 69,108,368 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $6,924,523,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,005,942,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,436.5% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,473,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,338,000 after buying an additional 4,454,778 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 240,349,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,740,362,000 after buying an additional 3,731,074 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total value of $2,411,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,288 shares in the company, valued at $27,560,551.20. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $237.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Johnson & Johnson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.74.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $263.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $634.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $235.85 and a 200 day moving average of $232.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $154.80 and a 12 month high of $269.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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 forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 61.97%.

Key Headlines Impacting Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson announced FDA approval for its dual-energy THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH SF platform, a positive catalyst that could support growth in the company’s medtech business and improve investor confidence in its pipeline. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The stock had recently been pushing to record highs as analysts raised price targets and investors responded to a higher outlook and pre-earnings optimism, suggesting the long-term setup for JNJ remains constructive. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary this week also highlighted JNJ as a defensive healthcare name with steady cash flow, while other pieces focused on valuation, earnings expectations, and healthcare sector comparisons rather than new company-specific setbacks. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the positive product news, some trading-focused coverage noted unusual put option activity after the recent run-up, indicating that a portion of the market is positioning for a possible pullback. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One market recap also described JNJ as declining more than the broader market, reinforcing the idea that the stock is pausing after a strong advance rather than reacting to a major fundamental problem. Article Title

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.