Westpac Banking Corp Raises Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 36.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 43,274 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,510 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 0.7% of Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Blueline Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total transaction 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 $27,560,551.20. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $234.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $282.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.30.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $255.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $615.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $164.23 and a 12-month high of $269.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $241.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.76.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.06 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.86% and a net margin of 21.48%.Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 62.11%.

Key Headlines Impacting Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved J&J’s OTTAVA robotic surgery system, opening the door for Johnson & Johnson to compete in robotic soft-tissue surgery and potentially expand its medtech growth runway. Reuters article on OTTAVA approval
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also encouraged by the prospect of a phased launch of OTTAVA with select customers, suggesting J&J is preparing a commercial rollout after securing clearance. Medical Device Network article on OTTAVA launch plans
• Positive Sentiment: J&J also continues to look like a defensive income stock, with a newly declared quarterly dividend reinforcing its appeal to dividend-focused investors. Yahoo Finance dividend article
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge cast doubt on roughly 69,000 talc-related cancer claims, but the court did not dismiss the litigation outright, so the legal overhang remains a mixed but potentially improving risk for J&J. Reuters talc litigation article

About Johnson & Johnson

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.