First Eagle Investment Management LLC Purchases 28,910 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,792,200 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 28,910 shares during the quarter. Medtronic accounts for approximately 1.7% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $782,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% during the third quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,131 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 2.9% during the third quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,123 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 4.4% during the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,743 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 36,303 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,900,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MDT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of MDT opened at $92.30 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. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $96.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.11%.

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.