Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 12,297 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 97.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,934 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,297 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $1,163,580,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at about $852,732,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth about $377,169,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 2,043.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,598,150 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $207,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,102,605 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $248,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $87.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $90.98 and its 200-day moving average is $87.99. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $96.25. The firm has a market cap of $112.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. Equities research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.11%.

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.