Johnson & Johnson Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 31,499 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 36% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,198 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. HSBC set a $290.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.26.

Trending Headlines about Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: JNJ beat Q2 expectations, posting adjusted EPS of $2.90 versus $2.85 expected and revenue of $25.31 billion versus $25.02 billion expected, showing continued strength in the core business.
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year 2026 guidance, with EPS now forecast at $11.60-$11.75 and revenue at $100.8 billion-$101.4 billion, signaling management’s confidence in the outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Pharmaceutical growth remains a key driver, especially Darzalex, Tremfya, and strong Spravato sales, which jumped 25% sequentially to $584 million and reinforce the long-term opportunity in depression treatment and related therapies. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: J&J also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.34 per share, which supports its appeal as a defensive income stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy call option activity suggests traders were positioning for a move around earnings, but the flow does not by itself explain the stock’s direction.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock is under pressure because the earnings beat was not viewed as dramatic enough to justify an immediate rerating, and investors may be taking profits after a strong run into the report.
• Negative Sentiment: Talc litigation and other legal risks continue to hang over the shares, limiting enthusiasm despite the improved outlook.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $6.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $247.55. The company had a trading volume of 6,645,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,396,273. 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 firm has a market cap of $595.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $238.18 and a 200-day moving average of $233.92. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $159.80 and a 52 week high of $269.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 32.60%. The company had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 114,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,560,551.20. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Ballast Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 25,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,405,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at about $216,000. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 38,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,828,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adirondack Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at $281,000. Institutional investors 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.