Vestcor Inc Boosts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its Johnson & Johnson stake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 4,490 shares to bring its total to 185,188 shares valued at about $38.3 million.
• Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.70 on revenue of $24.06 billion, with revenue up 9.9% year over year. The company also raised its full-year guidance to 11.45–11.65 EPS.
• The company announced a higher quarterly dividend of $1.34 per share, up from $1.30, bringing the annualized payout to $5.36 and a yield of about 2.3%.

Vestcor Inc lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 185,188 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,490 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.1% of Vestcor Inc's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $38,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $6,924,523,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $49,740,362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,074 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 545.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,865,050 shares of the company's stock worth $716,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266,354 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 13,354,936 shares of the company's stock worth $2,512,719,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 126.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,584,162 shares of the company's stock worth $664,575,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,609 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Johnson & Johnson

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Johnson & Johnson’s lack of major patent expirations and pointed to its billion-dollar drugs and growing businesses as reasons to own the stock. Jim Cramer Highlights Johnson & Johnson Having No Big Patent Expirations
• Positive Sentiment: ASCO 2026 updates underscored Johnson & Johnson’s expanding specialty-drug pipeline, with encouraging data in autoimmunity, oncology, and myeloma that could support longer-term revenue growth. ASCO 2026 Data Underscore Johnson & Johnson’s Expanding Specialty Drug Story
• Positive Sentiment: Separate market coverage noted Johnson & Johnson has been outperforming the broader market recently, reinforcing investor confidence in the defensive healthcare name. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider
• Neutral Sentiment: Newsweek named Johnson & Johnson among the world’s greenest companies for 2026, which is supportive for ESG-focused investors but unlikely to move the stock on its own. Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, MetLife Named Among Newsweek’s World’s Greenest Companies 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts highlighted ongoing headwinds, including Stelara erosion, China MedTech pressure, and talc litigation, though J&J is still targeting $100 billion in revenue and faster growth in 2026. Can JNJ Sustain Growth Amid Patent, Legal and China Risks?

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $232.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $560.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.26. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $149.04 and a 1-year high of $251.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business's fifty day moving average price is $231.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.96.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $24.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.77 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $274.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $244.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $283.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $253.04.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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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