J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,778 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 1.2% in the third quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 9,558 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,131 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,123 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,743 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 3.3% during the third quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,741 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MDT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. dropped their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their target price on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Medtronic Stock Down 7.3 %

MDT stock opened at $86.05 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $85.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.99. The company has a market capitalization of $110.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, 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 company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. On average, analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.