Equitable Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 91.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,645 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,968 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $3,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MDT. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 436.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $661,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,975,110 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 65.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,546,819 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $406,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,483 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 58.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,850,914 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $346,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,263 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 8,908.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,415 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $116,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284,002 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 5,124.5% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,035,708 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $93,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,884 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT stock opened at $90.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $93.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.63%.

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.