Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $275.87.

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 33,597 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.74, for a total transaction of $9,230,439.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,991,308.78. This trade represents a 56.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth Forminard sold 15,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $4,090,926.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,367,458. This trade represents a 48.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 87,569 shares of company stock valued at $23,064,544. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% during the 4th 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 period. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $2,005,942,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,967,399,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,436.5% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,473,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,338,000 after buying an additional 4,454,778 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position 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 valued at $1,546,130,000 after buying an additional 3,605,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: ICOTYDE delivers durable psoriasis results: New Phase 3 ICONIC-TOTAL data showed sustained skin clearance through two years. At Week 112, 70% of patients achieved clear or almost clear skin, while complete clearance reached 89% for genital psoriasis and 60% for scalp psoriasis, with no new safety concerns reported. The results support ICOTYDE as a potential important first-line systemic treatment and strengthen J&J’s immunology pipeline. J&J ICOTYDE psoriasis data
• Positive Sentiment: Innovative Medicine growth remains a key offset: Analysts expect oncology products and newer launches to drive another quarter of growth, helping counter revenue erosion from Stelara biosimilars. This supports the investment case that J&J can replace lost exclusivity revenue with newer products. Innovative Medicine Q3 growth drivers
• Positive Sentiment: IMAAVY adds pipeline support: New data in generalized myasthenia gravis gives investors additional evidence that J&J’s immunology portfolio could provide future growth beyond current blockbuster medicines. IMAAVY data update
• Neutral Sentiment: J&J continues to receive favorable valuation commentary and analyst support after a strong one-year advance, but its approximately 30-times earnings valuation leaves less room for disappointment.
• Negative Sentiment: Stelara biosimilar pressure remains the central risk: The expected decline in Stelara sales is weighing on near-term growth comparisons and may be contributing to investor caution despite positive pipeline news.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $255.94 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $182.94 and a 12 month high of $281.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $616.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $266.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.37.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced 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 $2.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.06 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.42%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were issued a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.11%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets products through two primary business segments: Innovative Medicine and MedTech. Its operations serve patients, healthcare professionals and consumers in markets around the world.

The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on prescription medicines in areas including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, infectious diseases, and pulmonary hypertension.