Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $225.50 and last traded at $224.4990, with a volume of 8153925 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.49.

Key Stories Impacting Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: Key legal risk reduced — a U.S. judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging J&J committed fraud by repeatedly trying to use a shell company’s bankruptcy to resolve talc claims, removing one potential overhang on the stock. US judge tosses lawsuit accusing J&J of fraud over talc bankruptcy strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness and higher targets after Q4 — Scotiabank raised its JNJ price target to $265 (from $230) and reiterated an Outperform rating following the quarter, supporting upside expectations. Scotiabank Raises Johnson & Johnson Target
• Positive Sentiment: Fund and analyst endorsements reinforce momentum — coverage from Barron’s, Zacks and bullish analyst notes highlight J&J’s Q4 beat, solid guidance and growth drivers in Innovative Medicine and MedTech. These narratives help justify recent multiple expansion and investor interest. This Winning Fund Pro Likes J&J
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high options volume — trading flow shows elevated speculative or hedging activity, which can amplify short‑term volatility but doesn’t change fundamentals. Monitor open interest and put/call skew for directional cues. Johnson & Johnson Sees Unusually High Options Volume
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CEO Joaquin Duato recently sold roughly $22M in JNJ stock days after the quarter, which can be perceived negatively by investors despite possible pre‑arranged sale plans; worth watching for follow‑up disclosures. CEO Dumps $22M in Stock Post Q4

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JNJ. Loop Capital set a $220.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $262.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.36.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $547.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $210.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.83.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46. The company had revenue of $24.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.14 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 28.46% and a return on equity of 33.34%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.430-11.630 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $26,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.