Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 38,576 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,371,601 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,576 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $824,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 69,419,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,633,000 after purchasing an additional 69,108,368 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $6,924,523,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $2,005,942,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 24,436.5% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,473,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,338,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454,778 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 240,349,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,740,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,074 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. Barclays increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $234.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $283.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $285.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $261.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total transaction of $2,411,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,288 shares in the company, valued at $27,560,551.20. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $247.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $595.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $238.64 and a 200 day moving average of $234.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $159.80 and a 12 month high of $269.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.02 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 21.83%.The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.97%.

Key Stories Impacting Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: JNJ beat Q2 estimates, with EPS of $2.90 and revenue of $25.31 billion, helped by strong pharmaceutical growth from Darzalex, Tremfya and Spravato. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised FY 2026 guidance to EPS of $11.60-$11.75 and revenue of about $100.8 billion-$101.4 billion, signaling management confidence in continued growth. Business Wire article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies highlighted Spravato’s strong sales growth as a positive read-through for the broader psychedelic/depression-treatment market, reinforcing the value of J&J’s innovative medicines franchise. Proactive Investors article
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity leaned bullish, with traders buying more JNJ call options than usual, suggesting some expectations for upside after earnings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson declared a quarterly dividend of $1.34 per share, underscoring its shareholder-return profile and dividend-king status.
• Neutral Sentiment: Stifel maintained a Hold rating with a $260 price target, reflecting a balanced view after the earnings report. TipRanks article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat-and-raise quarter, the stock slipped because investors appeared underwhelmed relative to elevated expectations and are still weighing MedTech softness and talc-related legal risk. MarketBeat 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.