Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,502 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $34,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,209,060,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,609,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,227,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth $4,877,174,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,802,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,635,832,000 after purchasing an additional 620,039 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,951,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,894,979,000 after purchasing an additional 52,074 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $190.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.25.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $207.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.64. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $215.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $499.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.34.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 50.19%.

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.