Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 1,034 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 58,474 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $5,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Medtronic during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 252.7% during the 3rd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 656 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT opened at $90.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $68.84 and a fifty-two week high of $92.68. The company has a market cap of $115.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.98.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.06% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MDT. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Medtronic from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Medtronic from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.36.

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.