SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 7,647 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 337,666 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 7,647 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $29,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MDT. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 293.0% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 316,643 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236,064 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Medtronic in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on Medtronic from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Medtronic from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Medtronic from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.09.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In related news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,008,261.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Medtronic stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.95. 5,661,443 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,767,227. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $99.95 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.20 and a 200-day moving average of $83.18. Medtronic plc has a 12 month low of $68.84 and a 12 month high of $91.00.

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

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This is an increase from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

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.