Courier Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Courier Capital LLC lessened its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,109 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 5,854 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $3,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 436.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $661,125,000 after buying an additional 5,975,110 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 65.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,546,819 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $406,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790,483 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 1,195.9% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,837,600 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $144,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,800 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Medtronic by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,850,914 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $346,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 8,908.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,415 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $116,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284,002 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDT has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE MDT traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $81.68. 6,476,430 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,264,500. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $92.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.99 and a 200 day moving average of $84.95. The company has a market cap of $104.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.63%.

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.