Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,410,177 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,370 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $705,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 55.0% during the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 197 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital set a $220.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $274.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.48.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $224.47 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $540.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.27. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $146.12 and a 52-week high of $251.71.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $24.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.60 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 32.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.77 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.650 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

Key Johnson & Johnson News

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

• Positive Sentiment: TREMFYA showed statistically significant benefit in a Phase 3 study for perianal fistulizing Crohn’s disease — a meaningful clinical win that could expand TREMFYA’s IBD label and support long?term sales growth in immunology. TREMFYA study press release
• Positive Sentiment: JNJ reported strong Phase 2b data for investigational co?antibody JNJ?4804 in refractory IBD (DUET studies), supporting advancement toward Phase 3 and adding pipeline optionality versus current therapies. JNJ?4804 DUET data
• Positive Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson’s Ottava surgical robot reportedly met endpoints in a pivotal bariatric study — a promising signal for the company’s MedTech R&D and future device commercialization. Ottava study
• Neutral Sentiment: Market pieces and screeners continue to highlight JNJ as a Dividend King and a dividend?income option (Fool, 247wallst, Zacks coverage), which supports steady investor demand from income-focused holders but is unlikely to move the stock dramatically by itself. Safer Dividend King article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad reporting notes J&J is expanding its clinical pipeline across immunology, MedTech and AI initiatives — constructive for long?term growth but mostly early?stage in terms of revenue impact. Pipeline expansion article
• Negative Sentiment: CVS will drop J&J’s Stelara from its main formularies in favor of lower?cost interchangeable biosimilars starting July 1 — a near?term commercial headwind for Stelara sales and an obvious driver of downward pressure on the shares. CVS drops Stelara
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage notes mixed IBD results: while some J&J programs show promise, at least one trial missed its primary endpoint (coverage describes advancement “despite” a miss), creating short?term uncertainty about timing/scale of benefits and raising questions for near?term sales guidance. Stat News coverage

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total value of $5,527,477.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,540,469.77. This trade represents a 45.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,598,700.17. The trade was a 21.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,142 shares of company stock worth $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.