Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,603,317 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 83,060 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.90% of Medtronic worth $913,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Medtronic in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 460 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the first quarter worth about $39,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MDT shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Medtronic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Daiwa America upgraded Medtronic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Medtronic in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.92.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT stock opened at $89.45 on Friday. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $68.84 and a 52 week high of $91.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $85.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.84.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.06% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.82%.

Medtronic 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.