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

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,629 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.1% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. 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.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437,397 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,826,000 after buying an additional 3,244,862 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $331,178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

JNJ opened at $153.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $370.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $161.35 and its 200-day moving average is $156.02.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.