Verity & Verity LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 178,781 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,683 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $14,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter valued at $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Medtronic by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $7,833,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its position in Medtronic by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,873,000 after buying an additional 18,057 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in 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 worth $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 56,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter worth approximately $9,486,000. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT opened at $88.23 on Friday. Medtronic plc has a 12 month low of $75.96 and a 12 month high of $92.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MDT. Barclays boosted their price target on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

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.