Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Trading Down 1.4%

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) fell 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $79.17 and last traded at $79.28. 1,000,729 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,259,903 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MDT shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Medtronic in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “sell” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $102.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.56.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 13.47%. Medtronic’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This is a boost from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 100.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medtronic news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total transaction of $1,601,096.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,008,261.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total value of $1,601,096.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,348 shares in the company, valued at $12,008,261.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $71,001.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,684.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Medtronic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Equity Investment Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,341,079 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $110,478,000 after buying an additional 292,459 shares during the period. Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth about $941,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 8,340.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,038,579 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $85,558,000 after buying an additional 1,026,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Medtronic by 69.3% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 40,476 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $3,172,000 after acquiring an additional 16,574 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.