Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Holdings in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 761,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 433,751 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $186,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 6,332 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 110.7% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 4,876 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.4% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 73,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,255,000 after acquiring an additional 6,584 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA granted marketing authorization for J&J’s OTTAVA robotic surgical system, a potentially meaningful new business in soft-tissue robotics that could expand the MedTech division. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: J&J also reported encouraging late-stage data for its multiple myeloma therapies Tecvayli and Talvey, with the MonumenTAL-6 study showing large reductions in progression risk and death, strengthening the company’s oncology pipeline. PR Newswire article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also responding to J&J’s recent quarterly earnings beat and upbeat 2026 outlook, which has boosted sentiment around the stock and drawn interest from ETF investors. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: J&J raised its dividend, reinforcing its appeal as a defensive income stock and supporting demand from dividend-focused investors. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles were commentary pieces discussing J&J’s valuation, ETF exposure, and investor attention, but they do not add a new fundamental catalyst on their own. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: A Reuters report said a judge cast doubt on roughly 69,000 talc-related cancer claims, which could still keep legal uncertainty in focus despite being framed as a procedural win for J&J. Reuters article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $254.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 114,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,560,551.20. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.5%

JNJ opened at $259.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.03. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $164.23 and a one year high of $269.43. The company has a market cap of $624.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.13.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.06 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.86% and a net margin of 21.48%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.11%.

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.