Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 583,898 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 33,237 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $46,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Medtronic during the 4th quarter valued at $852,732,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 5,975,110 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Medtronic by 2,043.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,598,150 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $207,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476,935 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 65.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,546,819 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $406,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,483 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 58.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,850,914 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $346,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,263 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MDT opened at $94.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.11%.

Insider Activity

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

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.