Merit Financial Group LLC Has $22.79 Million Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 35.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,423 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 36,312 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $22,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Capital & Planning LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 6,332 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $85,886,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 116.2% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,940,000 after buying an additional 6,844 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partners cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ traded up $0.28 on Thursday, reaching $153.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,271,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,928,955. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $369.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $153.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.67.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.