First National Advisers LLC Acquires 809 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

First National Advisers LLC increased its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,418 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 809 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $694,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its position in Medtronic by 32.6% in 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 buying an additional 18,057 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Medtronic by 322.6% in 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 buying an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Medtronic by 8.0% in 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 buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in Medtronic by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $22,212,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,119,330.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upgraded Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Price Performance

MDT opened at $93.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.96. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $96.25. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.11%.

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.