Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 5,342,443 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,795,058 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,342,443 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,234,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,924,523,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,005,942,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $49,740,362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,074 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,471,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,546,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,605,981 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 13,354,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,512,719,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,838 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $232.81 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.15. The firm has a market cap of $560.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.26. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $149.04 and a twelve month high of $251.71.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $1.34 per share. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.97%.

Johnson & Johnson News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Johnson & Johnson’s lack of major patent expirations and pointed to its billion-dollar drugs and growing businesses as reasons to own the stock. Jim Cramer Highlights Johnson & Johnson Having No Big Patent Expirations
• Positive Sentiment: ASCO 2026 updates underscored Johnson & Johnson’s expanding specialty-drug pipeline, with encouraging data in autoimmunity, oncology, and myeloma that could support longer-term revenue growth. ASCO 2026 Data Underscore Johnson & Johnson’s Expanding Specialty Drug Story
• Positive Sentiment: Separate market coverage noted Johnson & Johnson has been outperforming the broader market recently, reinforcing investor confidence in the defensive healthcare name. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider
• Neutral Sentiment: Newsweek named Johnson & Johnson among the world’s greenest companies for 2026, which is supportive for ESG-focused investors but unlikely to move the stock on its own. Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, MetLife Named Among Newsweek’s World’s Greenest Companies 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts highlighted ongoing headwinds, including Stelara erosion, China MedTech pressure, and talc litigation, though J&J is still targeting $100 billion in revenue and faster growth in 2026. Can JNJ Sustain Growth Amid Patent, Legal and China Risks?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Weiss Ratings cut Johnson & Johnson from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $283.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.04.

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.