Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Holdings in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC slightly reduced its Johnson & Johnson stake by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, but still held 670,094 shares valued at about $138.7 million.
• Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.70 and revenue of $24.06 billion, and it raised its full-year FY2026 EPS guidance to $11.45-$11.65.
• The company also boosted its quarterly dividend to $1.34 per share, bringing the annualized payout to $5.36 and the yield to about 2.4%.

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 670,094 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,761 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.7% of Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $138,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 632.0% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 89,183 shares of the company's stock worth $16,536,000 after buying an additional 77,000 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 130,934 shares of the company's stock worth $24,278,000 after buying an additional 2,769 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,383,195 shares of the company's stock worth $251,216,000 after buying an additional 5,994 shares during the period. Greenberg Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $954,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,926,569 shares of the company's stock worth $913,484,000 after buying an additional 151,707 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $225.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $542.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $233.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.82. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $149.04 and a 12-month 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.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $24.06 billion during 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 was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.77 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on JNJ. TD Cowen began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.04.

Johnson & Johnson News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson reported updated Phase 1/1b data showing RYBREVANT plus LAZCLUZE delivered prolonged clinical benefit in atypical EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer, with median overall survival nearing 3.5 years. This strengthens the case for the company’s lung cancer pipeline. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: New Phase 3 MajesTEC-9 data showed TECVAYLI improved progression-free and overall survival versus standard of care in relapsed multiple myeloma, reinforcing Johnson & Johnson’s momentum in blood-cancer treatments and expanding confidence in the drug’s earlier-line use. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved a label expansion for TREMFYA in psoriatic arthritis, adding evidence that it can help stop structural joint damage. That makes TREMFYA more differentiated in a large immunology market and may support future sales growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analyst and market commentary pieces noted that JNJ has outperformed the Dow and that Wall Street sentiment remains moderately optimistic, but these were mostly retrospective and did not add new fundamental catalysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson also announced it will host its second-quarter earnings conference call on July 15, which is routine corporate communication rather than a price-moving event on its own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader commentary highlighted that J&J still faces exposure from patent-loss pressure on older products, even though oncology growth and MedTech demand are helping offset it. This remains an overhang on the stock’s longer-term earnings mix. Article Title

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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