Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Trading Up 0.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)’s share price was up 0.3% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $95.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Medtronic traded as high as $87.22 and last traded at $87.27. Approximately 784,492 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 7,324,802 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MDT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Medtronic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MDT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,163,580,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $852,732,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% in the 3rd 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 worth $661,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,975,110 shares during the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth about $377,169,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 2,043.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,598,150 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $207,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476,935 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medtronic Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.02.

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 14.11% and a net margin of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. Analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.11%.

About Medtronic

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.