Pzena Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Pzena Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,215,017 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 367,976 shares during the period. Medtronic makes up approximately 2.3% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 0.64% of Medtronic worth $656,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter worth about $694,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its stake 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 worth $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 322.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 94,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $7,509,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $22,212,000 after purchasing an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. The trade was a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MDT shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Price Performance

MDT stock opened at $93.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.84. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $96.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

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.