Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Trading Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)’s share price was down 0.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $87.69 and last traded at $88.14. Approximately 1,966,075 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 6,558,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MDT. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $112.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.99. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. Equities analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business 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 3.19%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Medtronic

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,203,387 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $9,921,367,000 after acquiring an additional 754,395 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Medtronic by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,509,155,000 after buying an additional 520,027 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Medtronic by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,203,685 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,652,310,000 after buying an additional 571,700 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,056,217 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,155,085,000 after acquiring an additional 574,055 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,443,640 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,473,278,000 after acquiring an additional 372,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

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.