Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Sells 82,000 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 35.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 146,800 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 82,000 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $11,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 204,603 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $16,344,000 after purchasing an additional 22,595 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,512,000. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 109.3% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 704,579 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $56,282,000 after purchasing an additional 367,920 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 217.7% during the fourth quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 11,965 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 8,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 56,384 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $4,504,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $84.24 on Thursday. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $96.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.81.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is 85.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MDT. Citigroup raised shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.14.

Medtronic 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.