Conning Inc. Decreases Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Conning Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,955 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 1,597 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Medtronic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 19.2% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $7,833,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Medtronic by 322.6% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after buying an additional 56,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Medtronic by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $22,212,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,119,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. The trade was a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE MDT opened at $90.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $115.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.31. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $93.08.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.63%.

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.