My Johnson & Johnson and Merck Investments

Last fall I bought shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Merck (MRK).   I bought my JNJ in late October 2010 and the MRK in early September 2010.

JNJ =
I paid $1,532.88 for 24 shares at $63.87 each.    I've received dividends of $53.28.   Today JNJ trades at $63.51.   In total I'm up about 2.9%  


MRK =
I spent $1,072.50 on 30 shares at $35.75 each.   I've collected $57 in dividends.  MRK is trading at $35.41 now.    Overall its up about 4.3%


The S&P 500 has out performed both of these investments.   For the same periods the S&P 500 is up around 4.3% compared to JNJ at 2.9% and up over 12% compared to the 4.3% for MRK.

Combined my investments in JNJ & MRK are up about 3.4% total.   If I'd instead bought S&P500, I would be up about 7.4%.

The PE of MRK is currently a hefty 25.8 and their dividend is 4.7%.    JNJ's PE is a better 15.49 and their yield is 3.5%.
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