Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 38,576 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,371,601 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,576 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Johnson & Johnson worth $824,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 133,869,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,704,364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,782 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 69,419,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,633,000 after buying an additional 69,108,368 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,953,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,967,947,000 after buying an additional 1,738,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,924,523,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $285.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Argus boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $234.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.70.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 2.5%

JNJ stock opened at $247.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $595.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average is $238.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.20. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $159.80 and a fifty-two week high of $269.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 21.83%.The business had revenue of $25.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.97%.

More Johnson & Johnson News

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

• Positive Sentiment: JNJ beat Q2 estimates, with EPS of $2.90 and revenue of $25.31 billion, helped by strong pharmaceutical growth from Darzalex, Tremfya and Spravato. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised FY 2026 guidance to EPS of $11.60-$11.75 and revenue of about $100.8 billion-$101.4 billion, signaling management confidence in continued growth. Business Wire article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies highlighted Spravato’s strong sales growth as a positive read-through for the broader psychedelic/depression-treatment market, reinforcing the value of J&J’s innovative medicines franchise. Proactive Investors article
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity leaned bullish, with traders buying more JNJ call options than usual, suggesting some expectations for upside after earnings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson declared a quarterly dividend of $1.34 per share, underscoring its shareholder-return profile and dividend-king status.
• Neutral Sentiment: Stifel maintained a Hold rating with a $260 price target, reflecting a balanced view after the earnings report. TipRanks article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat-and-raise quarter, the stock slipped because investors appeared underwhelmed relative to elevated expectations and are still weighing MedTech softness and talc-related legal risk. MarketBeat article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,560,551.20. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.