Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 687 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,669 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 687 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $4,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter valued at about $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $7,833,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 322.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,626,000 after buying an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $22,212,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.9 %

MDT stock opened at $90.85 on Friday. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $93.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.28. The company has a market capitalization of $116.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,119,330.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,110. This trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Medtronic Company Profile

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. Its Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software.