Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 2.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 2.8% on Wednesday after Johnson Rice upgraded the stock from a hold rating to an outperform rating. The company traded as high as $230.80 and last traded at $230.4290. 7,251,923 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 8,401,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $224.26.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on JNJ. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $244.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $237.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Twenty equities research 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, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.04.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 1,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.66, for a total value of $324,762.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,251,310.02. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total value of $1,508,287.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,700.17. This represents a 21.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: Leerink Partners upgraded Johnson & Johnson to Outperform and raised its price target to $265, citing stronger growth prospects from new drug launches and expanding oncology and immunology franchises. Johnson & Johnson upgraded at Leerink on growth prospects
• Positive Sentiment: J&J is getting credit for pipeline progress, including positive Phase 3 TREMFYA data in Crohn’s disease and continued momentum in immunology, which supports confidence in post-Stelara growth. Tremfya, Icotyde Lead J&J’s Post-Stelara Immunology Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: The company also highlighted new product launches in cardiology, including the global rollout of its Shockwave C2 Aero coronary IVL catheter, adding another growth avenue. Johnson & Johnson Advances the Standard of Calcium Modification with Global Launch of Shockwave™ C2 Aero Coronary IVL Catheter
• Neutral Sentiment: J&J’s appearance in articles about its AAA credit rating and defensive profile may reinforce its safe-haven reputation, but these stories are unlikely to be major near-term stock catalysts. The 2 US Companies With a Better Credit Rating Than Uncle Sam Belong in Every Retirement Portfolio
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional coverage discussing J&J’s dividend safety and low-risk profile supports the investment case, but is more of a long-term investor theme than a fresh price driver. Russell 1000 Dividend ETF Hits 125 as Johnson & Johnson Leads The Safety Test

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blueline Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.21. The firm has a market cap of $554.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.02. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 21.83%.The company had revenue of $24.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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. On average, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 61.97%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.