Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 327.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,270 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 17,831 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Medtronic during the second quarter worth $239,000. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Medtronic by 24.7% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Medtronic by 37.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 124,197 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $9,776,000 after purchasing an additional 33,959 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Medtronic by 5.9% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 388,629 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $30,589,000 after purchasing an additional 21,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Medtronic by 6,340.2% during the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 22,412 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 22,064 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Medtronic Price Performance

MDT stock opened at $88.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.21. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $92.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medtronic has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

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.