Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Trading Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot up 1.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $240.94 and last traded at $240.30. 8,267,231 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 9,384,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. HSBC upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $220.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.73.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $578.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $212.87 and a 200 day moving average of $193.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 28.46% and a return on equity of 33.34%. The business had revenue of $24.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.430-11.630 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 240,349,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,740,362,000 after buying an additional 3,731,074 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,609,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,227,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth about $4,877,174,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,832,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,789,914,000 after purchasing an additional 956,239 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,637,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,568,313,000 after buying an additional 835,146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.