Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 292,879 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 48,200 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $23,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MDT. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 436.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $661,125,000 after acquiring an additional 5,975,110 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 2,043.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,598,150 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $207,540,000 after buying an additional 2,476,935 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,546,819 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $406,122,000 after buying an additional 1,790,483 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,850,914 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $346,705,000 after buying an additional 1,420,263 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 8,908.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,415 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $116,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284,002 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Activity

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Stock Performance

NYSE MDT opened at $89.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.14. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $93.08.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.