Prudential PLC Increases Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Prudential PLC raised its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,208 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,066 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $3,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MDT. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $694,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 322.6% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after purchasing an additional 56,178 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 94,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $7,509,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Medtronic by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $22,212,000 after purchasing an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MDT. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upgraded Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $82.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $90.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.93. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $96.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.