Diversify Advisory Services LLC Sells 11,272 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,714 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 11,272 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,509,155,000 after acquiring an additional 520,027 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Medtronic by 3.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $772,727,000 after purchasing an additional 275,870 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Medtronic by 436.7% in the third 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 valued at $661,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,975,110 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,391,865 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $575,460,000 after purchasing an additional 145,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 11.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,893,720 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $530,612,000 after buying an additional 609,391 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Medtronic Price Performance

MDT opened at $88.23 on Monday. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.16. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $92.68.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.