Apella Capital LLC Purchases 11,736 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Apella Capital LLC increased its Johnson & Johnson stake by 37.4% in the first quarter, buying 11,736 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 43,153 shares valued at about $10.1 million.
• Institutional ownership of J&J remains strong, with major holders like Vanguard, State Street, and Geode also adding shares; overall, institutions own 69.55% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with several firms raising price targets and J&J posting a recent earnings beat; the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.34 per share, signaling continued shareholder returns.

Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 37.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,153 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,736 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $49,740,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,074 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 133,869,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,704,364,000 after buying an additional 1,663,782 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 69,419,308 shares of the company's stock worth $1,436,633,000 after acquiring an additional 69,108,368 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,953,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,967,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,924,523,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HSBC upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $256.70.

More Johnson & Johnson News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim raised its price target on Johnson & Johnson to $270 from $266 and reiterated a Buy rating, reinforcing bullish analyst sentiment after recent strength in the shares. Benzinga reference
• Positive Sentiment: The company said new data from its IMAAVY (nipocalimab-aahu) program support sustained disease control in generalized myasthenia gravis, adding to optimism around its immunology pipeline and future growth prospects. PR Newswire reference
• Positive Sentiment: European regulators also issued a CHMP recommendation advancing TECVAYLI plus daratumumab as a potential standard of care in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, which could help support J&J’s oncology franchise. Article reference
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market commentary also points to healthcare stocks like Johnson & Johnson becoming a haven for investors rotating out of tech, which is helping lift sentiment across the sector. MarketWatch reference
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles also highlighted J&J as a “best stock for beginners” and a dependable dividend name, but those are more general reputation pieces than immediate stock-moving catalysts. Article reference
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are still looking for only single-digit earnings growth ahead of the next quarterly report, so while expectations remain solid, the near-term upside may depend on continued pipeline and product execution. Article reference

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $254.64 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $230.92 and its 200 day moving average is $229.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $151.01 and a one year high of $255.11. The firm has a market cap of $612.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 61.97%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,560,551.20. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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