Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,536 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 1,322 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $10,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. State Street Corp raised its position in Medtronic by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,509,155,000 after acquiring an additional 520,027 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $772,727,000 after purchasing an additional 275,870 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 5,975,110 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,391,865 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $575,460,000 after purchasing an additional 145,504 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 11.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,893,720 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $530,612,000 after buying an additional 609,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Down 0.9 %

MDT stock opened at $90.01 on Friday. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $93.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.63%.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

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.