South Dakota Investment Council Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,642 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,897 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $18,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,436,633,000 after buying an additional 69,108,368 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $6,924,523,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $2,005,942,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 24,436.5% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,473,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,338,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Johnson Rice upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $285.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, HSBC set a $290.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.39.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $265.71 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $164.23 and a 52-week high of $274.90. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.82. The company has a market capitalization of $640.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.24.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.06 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.11%.

Johnson & Johnson News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expansion into next-generation oncology. J&J completed its $1 billion cash acquisition of Firefly Bio, gaining the Firelink™ degrader antibody conjugate platform. The technology is intended to support targeted treatments for difficult solid tumors, including KRAS-driven cancers, and strengthens the company’s long-term oncology pipeline. Firefly Bio acquisition article
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic collaboration adds autoimmune-disease potential. J&J agreed to work with Sail Biomedicines on in vivo CAR-T therapies designed to reset the immune system and treat immune-mediated diseases. The agreement includes $785 million in initial payments and an exclusive option to acquire Sail for $2.58 billion, giving J&J access to a potentially transformative platform. Wall Street Journal Sail collaboration article
• Positive Sentiment: Operating momentum remains solid. J&J’s latest quarterly results exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue up 6.6% year over year to $25.31 billion and earnings per share of $2.90 versus a $2.84 consensus estimate. Analysts also raised some longer-term earnings forecasts, suggesting confidence in the underlying business. Johnson & Johnson earnings information
• Neutral Sentiment: Talc settlement may reduce legal uncertainty. J&J’s proposed payment of up to $5.5 billion would address roughly 76,000 ovarian-cancer claims, potentially removing a major litigation overhang. However, the agreement requires at least 95% claimant participation and does not eliminate all future litigation risk. Reuters talc litigation article
• Negative Sentiment: 2026 profit forecast was lowered. J&J cited the combined financial impact of the Firefly acquisition and Sail agreement when reducing its 2026 profit forecast. The lower near-term earnings outlook appears to be the most direct reason for investor caution today, despite the deals’ potential long-term strategic value. Reuters profit forecast article

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total value of $2,411,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 114,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,560,551.20. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 23,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total value of $5,792,778.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,779,963.81. This trade represents a 50.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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.