Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $2.26 Million Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 63.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,273 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,975 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $6,626,000 after buying an additional 56,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $22,212,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

MDT opened at $88.23 on Monday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.16. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $92.68. The company has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MDT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.