Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 139,004,337 shares, an increase of 247.7% from the September 30th total of 39,974,230 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 47,498,393 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 10.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medtronic news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $4,750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 277,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,397,270. This represents a 15.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 10,420 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 105,916 shares in the company, valued at $10,167,936. This trade represents a 8.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 61,903 shares of company stock valued at $5,889,203 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medtronic

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter valued at $965,922,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,783,983 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,078,321,000 after buying an additional 3,739,288 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Medtronic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,764,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Medtronic by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,399,315 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,005,320,000 after buying an additional 1,658,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Medtronic by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 6,070,236 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $525,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Medtronic stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.70. 9,576,742 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,391,698. Medtronic has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $106.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $121.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.35.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The medical technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.06. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $9.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Medtronic has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.320-1.340 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 5.940-6.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Medtronic will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 25th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is 70.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Medtronic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.88.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) is a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and distributes devices and therapies used to diagnose, treat and manage a broad range of medical conditions. Its products support healthcare providers in areas including cardiac and vascular care, diabetes, neuroscience, surgical procedures and patient monitoring.

The company’s offerings include pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, heart valves and other structural heart products; insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring technologies; spinal and neurosurgical systems; deep-brain and spinal cord stimulation devices; surgical instruments and robotic-assisted technologies; and respiratory and patient-monitoring equipment.