Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,148 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,642 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,148 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $163.40 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $156.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently 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.