Grandfield & Dodd LLC Trims Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC cut its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,095 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 10,614 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $8,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 145.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new position in Medtronic during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Medtronic Price Performance

NYSE MDT opened at $92.00 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.50. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $93.08. 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 company has a market cap of $117.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,119,330.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MDT shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays lifted 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Medtronic has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

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.