Vestor Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Vestor Capital LLC lifted its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,375 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $4,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter valued at $694,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its stake in Medtronic by 32.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in Medtronic by 322.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Medtronic by 8.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Medtronic by 6.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted 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 boosted 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. Citigroup raised Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Medtronic Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $90.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $115.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $96.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.08.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 3.10%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 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.