Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 1,844 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,885 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,844 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 0.9% of Meritage Portfolio Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $13,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of JNJ traded up $0.49 on Tuesday, reaching $155.76. The stock had a trading volume of 6,432,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,057,313. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.25. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 24.42%. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Benchmark upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Leerink Partners cut Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.88.

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.