Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Boosts Holdings in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,846 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 328 shares during the quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,800,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,120 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,131,723,000 after buying an additional 130,645 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,899,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,133,602,000 after acquiring an additional 712,181 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,031,955,000 after purchasing an additional 448,666 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.1%

JNJ opened at $190.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $194.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $458.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.13.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on JNJ. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.05.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total value of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.