Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Climb 1.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 1.4% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $260.68 and last traded at $258.2460. 5,276,486 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 7,971,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.78.

More Johnson & Johnson News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Guggenheim reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and set a $287 price target, implying roughly 11% upside from the referenced trading level. RBC Capital also maintained its “Buy” rating. RBC Capital keeps its Buy rating on Johnson & Johnson
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple myeloma progress: Johnson & Johnson reported that the combination of Tecvayli and Talvey reduced the relative risk of disease progression or death by 89% and the risk of death by 62% in the Phase 3 MonumenTAL-6 trial. The results support the potential expansion of J&J’s oncology portfolio, although the combination remains subject to regulatory and commercial development. 2026 cancer treatment advances
• Positive Sentiment: Psoriasis drug durability: Two-year Phase 3 data for oral ICOTYDE showed maintained skin clearance and consistent safety through Week 112, strengthening the case for the drug as a targeted treatment option in difficult-to-treat plaque psoriasis.
• Positive Sentiment: Innovative Medicines momentum: RBC commentary indicated that growth in J&J’s Innovative Medicine segment is helping offset weakness in MedTech, improving confidence in the company’s earnings and replacement-product pipeline. Innovative Medicines momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend appeal versus valuation: J&J recorded its 64th consecutive year of dividend growth, supporting its defensive-income profile. However, the investment case remains balanced against biosimilar competition, a MedTech slowdown and ongoing talc litigation. Johnson & Johnson dividend analysis
• Negative Sentiment: MedTech and patent-cliff risks: Analysts continue to watch competitive pressure, including Abiomed, and the possibility that upcoming patent expirations could test J&J’s ability to replace lost product revenue. J&J MedTech outlook

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $260.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.22.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $622.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.63.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.42%. The company had revenue of $25.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Elizabeth Forminard sold 15,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $4,090,926.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,367,458. This represents a 48.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 23,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total transaction of $5,792,778.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,779,963.81. This represents a 50.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 87,569 shares of company stock worth $23,064,544 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson & Johnson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 5,226,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,493,000 after acquiring an additional 67,484 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 38,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133 shares in the last quarter. Elefante Mark B raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 9.8% in the second quarter. Elefante Mark B now owns 28,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,563 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 76.1% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 15,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 6,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 152,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,815,000 after purchasing an additional 13,737 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets products through two primary business segments: Innovative Medicine and MedTech. Its operations serve patients, healthcare professionals and consumers in markets around the world.

The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on prescription medicines in areas including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, infectious diseases, and pulmonary hypertension.