BTC Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• BTC Capital Management reduced its Johnson & Johnson stake by 19.2% in the first quarter, selling 17,482 shares and leaving it with 73,582 shares worth about $18.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with several firms raising price targets and MarketBeat citing a Moderate Buy consensus; the average target price is $256.70.
• J&J also reported solid fundamentals and shareholder returns, including first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations and a quarterly dividend increase to $1.34 per share, while the stock recently traded near its 52-week high.

BTC Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 19.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,582 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,482 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.2% of BTC Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. BTC Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $18,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 240,349,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,740,362,000 after buying an additional 3,731,074 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 133,869,843 shares of the company's stock worth $27,704,364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,782 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% in 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 buying an additional 69,108,368 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,953,747 shares of the company's stock worth $11,967,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $6,924,523,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $256.70.

Johnson & Johnson News Summary

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 approximately $27,560,551.20. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $254.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.43. The company has a market capitalization of $612.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.26. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $151.01 and a twelve month high of $255.11. 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 (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.02. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 21.83%.The company 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 company posted $2.77 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given 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, May 26th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 61.97%.

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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