Ethic Inc. Acquires 22,303 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 20.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 132,061 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,303 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $34,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.5% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 22,588,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,736,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513,321 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,661,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,977,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,676 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,406,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,277,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,139 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,967,399,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,872,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,924,323,000 after buying an additional 148,497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Key Johnson & Johnson News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA granted accelerated approval to RYBREVANT FASPRO as a single-agent treatment for certain adults with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer after prior platinum chemotherapy and immunotherapy. J&J says the treatment is the first new option in this setting in a decade; trial data showed a 42% response rate. The approval extends the drug’s use beyond lung cancer and could broaden its commercial opportunity, though the indication is limited and accelerated approval may require confirmatory evidence. FDA approval announcement
• Positive Sentiment: J&J’s Innovative Medicine division grew third-quarter sales 7.7% to $16.76 billion, with established blockbusters and new launches more than offsetting generic competition. Continued growth despite patent-related headwinds supports the business outlook. Innovative Medicine sales report
• Neutral Sentiment: J&J was included in an article highlighting companies with a history of dividend increases and strong balance sheets. This reinforces its income-investor appeal, but the article does not identify a new company-specific dividend announcement. Dividend raisers article
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced it is investigating potential claims on behalf of J&J investors. The notice does not provide details of the claims, but the investigation could add legal and reputational uncertainty. Investor investigation announcement

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on JNJ. Evercore set a $300.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. UBS Group set a $270.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $276.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.92.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $276.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $664.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.22. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $185.12 and a 1-year high of $282.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $265.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.30.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 13th. The company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 31.64%. The company had revenue of $25.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 81.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 33,597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.74, for a total transaction of $9,230,439.78. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer Taubert sold 15,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.36, for a total value of $3,950,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 194,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,210,615.36. The trade was a 7.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a global healthcare company that develops and sells prescription medicines and medical technologies. Its business is organized around two segments: Innovative Medicine and MedTech.

Innovative Medicine develops treatments in areas including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, and pulmonary hypertension. MedTech provides products and technologies for fields such as surgery, orthopedics, and vision care.

Founded in 1886, Johnson & Johnson serves patients and healthcare professionals in markets around the world.