Legal & General Group Plc Sells 2,496,366 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,201,325 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,496,366 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.72% of Medtronic worth $735,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 753.8% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 333 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Medtronic by 145.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Medtronic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MDT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup raised Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Down 5.7 %

MDT stock opened at $82.86 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $106.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $90.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.93. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. As a group, analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is 85.11%.

Insider Activity

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. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.