Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,920 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,250 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $7,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Faithward Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Medtronic by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $54,423,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $160,000. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Medtronic by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,414 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Medtronic by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,445,284 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,233,769,000 after buying an additional 2,333,600 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on 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 upped their price target on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup raised Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $85.42 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $90.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $96.25. The company has a market cap of $109.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79.

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. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. Analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. This trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic 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.