Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 69,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 3,200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $5,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Medtronic during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 145.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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 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 approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Medtronic Stock Up 0.2 %

MDT stock opened at $91.35 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $85.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.65. The company has a market cap of $117.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $93.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.63%.

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.