Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 886,302 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 146,581 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.07% of Medtronic worth $70,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,203,387 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $9,921,367,000 after purchasing an additional 754,395 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Medtronic by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,509,155,000 after buying an additional 520,027 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth $1,163,580,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $852,732,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,792,200 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $782,201,000 after acquiring an additional 28,910 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medtronic Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $89.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.99. Medtronic plc has a twelve month low of $75.96 and a twelve month high of $96.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.33 billion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MDT. Citigroup raised shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.07.

About Medtronic

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.