Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,629 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.1% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Coastline Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.4% in the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 13,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Vawter Financial Ltd. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vawter Financial Ltd. now owns 3,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 187.4% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,955,000 after buying an additional 44,081 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 28,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,640,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 16,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $153.99 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $161.35 and its 200 day moving average is $156.02. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The firm has a market cap of $370.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.