Empire Life Investments Inc. Sells 15,580 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Empire Life Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 159,232 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,580 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.9% of Empire Life Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $32,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. WealthCollab LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. MMA Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Deegan Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Campbell Deegan Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Finivi Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Finivi Inc. now owns 2,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,598,700.17. The trade was a 21.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Johnson & Johnson News

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

• Positive Sentiment: J&J says Tremfya and newly approved Icotyde will anchor its post-Stelara immunology strategy, helping support growth as Stelara faces biosimilar competition.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched the Shockwave C2 Aero Coronary IVL catheter globally, reinforcing momentum in its medtech division and expanding its cardiovascular portfolio.
• Positive Sentiment: J&J continues to highlight strong Phase 3 TREMFYA data and new neuropsychiatry portfolio results, which could improve confidence in its pipeline and future launches.
• Neutral Sentiment: J&J will participate in the Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference, which may offer investors more color on strategy but is not, by itself, a major fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market weakness, especially pressure on the Nasdaq from chip stocks, may be influencing overall sentiment, but it is not specific to J&J’s business.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.48.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $224.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $236.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.21. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $146.12 and a 12 month high of $251.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $540.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.27.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.02. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 32.60%. The firm had revenue of $24.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.12%.

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.