Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 98,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,983 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 3.0% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $20,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 632.0% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 89,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,536,000 after purchasing an additional 77,000 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 130,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,769 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,383,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,994 shares during the period. Greenberg Financial Group acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $954,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,926,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,484,000 after buying an additional 151,707 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $225.59 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $238.49 and a 200-day moving average of $220.15. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $146.12 and a 1 year high of $251.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $543.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.27.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.02. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 21.83%.The company had revenue of $24.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.650 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.34 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 60.12%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total transaction of $1,508,287.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,700.17. This represents a 21.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total transaction of $5,527,477.59. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,540,469.77. This represents a 45.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $244.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $234.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.48.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.