Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its Johnson & Johnson stake by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 128,616 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 1,787,427 shares worth about $369.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on J&J remains constructive, with Leerink Partners upgrading the stock to “Outperform” and lifting its price target to $265, while analysts continue to cite pipeline momentum and new product launches as growth drivers.
• Johnson & Johnson reported solid quarterly results and raised its dividend, posting earnings and revenue ahead of estimates and increasing the quarterly payout to $1.34 per share, supporting its appeal as a defensive income stock.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,787,427 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 128,616 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.0% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.07% of Johnson & Johnson worth $369,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 946.7% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 157 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,288,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 423,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,586,000 after acquiring an additional 41,905 shares during the period. Finally, Rayburn West Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $815,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Leerink Partners upgraded Johnson & Johnson from “Market Perform” to “Outperform” and lifted its price target to $265 from $252, citing accelerating growth prospects from new drug launches and stronger oncology and immunology franchises. Johnson & Johnson upgraded at Leerink on growth prospects
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted J&J’s pipeline momentum, including Tremfya and newly approved Icotyde as key drivers for immunology growth as Stelara faces biosimilar pressure, reinforcing the company’s post-Stelara strategy. Tremfya, Icotyde Lead J&J's Post-Stelara Immunology Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: J&J also announced the global launch of the Shockwave C2 Aero Coronary IVL Catheter, adding another product launch that supports its cardiovascular growth story. Johnson & Johnson Advances the Standard of Calcium Modification with Global Launch of Shockwave™ C2 Aero Coronary IVL Catheter
• Neutral Sentiment: J&J remains in focus as a defensive, high-quality name with one of the market’s strongest credit ratings, which may keep income-focused investors interested but is less likely to be a near-term catalyst. The 2 US Companies With a Better Credit Rating Than Uncle Sam Belong in Every Retirement Portfolio
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also got attention in articles emphasizing its safety, dividend appeal, and retirement-portfolio status, which supports the stock’s defensive reputation rather than signaling a major fundamental change. Russell 1000 Dividend ETF Hits 125 as Johnson & Johnson Leads The Safety Test

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 directly owned 26,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,540,469.77. The trade was a 45.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,598,700.17. This trade represents a 21.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Johnson Rice raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.04.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $230.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $554.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.27. 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 1-year low of $146.12 and a 1-year high of $251.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $235.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.02. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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