Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Down 3.6% – What’s Next?
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemShares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) dropped 3.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $254.56 and last traded at $255.8450. Approximately 8,182,555 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 8,445,013 shares. The stock had previously closed at $265.53.
Key Stories Impacting Johnson & Johnson
Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson & Johnson this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain moderately bullish: JNJ’s median analyst price target is about $263, with several targets above that level, including Citigroup’s $298 target. Argus Research also issued a Buy rating, while Erste Group raised its 2026 EPS forecast to $11.68, close to the $11.69 consensus. Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish on Johnson & Johnson Stock?
- Positive Sentiment: Oncology and immunology expansion strengthens the growth pipeline: J&J completed its $1 billion acquisition of Firefly Bio, adding a degrader antibody-conjugate platform targeting difficult solid tumors, including KRAS-driven cancers. Johnson & Johnson Completes Acquisition of Firefly Bio
- Positive Sentiment: Promising regulatory and shareholder-return news: The FDA granted Priority Review to subcutaneous RYBREVANT FASPRO for advanced head and neck cancer, potentially expanding a key oncology franchise. JNJ also increased its dividend for the 64th consecutive year and is pursuing a long-term $100 billion revenue goal. RYBREVANT FASPRO Receives FDA Priority Review
- Neutral Sentiment: In-vivo CAR-T investment adds potential but carries execution risk: JNJ will make up to $785 million in initial payments to Sail Biomedicines and has an option to acquire it for $2.58 billion. The technology could create new autoimmune and oncology treatments, but commercialization is still uncertain. J&J Ventures Further Into In Vivo CAR-T
- Negative Sentiment: The $5.5 billion talc settlement weighs on sentiment: The proposed agreement would resolve roughly 76,000 ovarian-cancer claims, subject to 95% claimant participation. Although it could reduce litigation uncertainty, investors are focused on the substantial cash obligation, including up to $3 billion in 2027, and execution risk. Johnson & Johnson to Pay $5.5 Billion to Resolve Talc Litigation
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $234.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $260.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $284.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.39.
Read Our Latest Research Report on JNJ
Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $618.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $245.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.31.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.42% and a net margin of 21.48%.The business had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 62.11%.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total value of $2,411,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,560,551.20. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 23,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total transaction of $5,792,778.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,779,963.81. This represents a 50.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunpointe LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 15,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,051,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.8% during the second quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC now owns 5,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Xcel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth approximately $1,079,000. Finally, Petra Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.