Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by VeraBank N.A.

VeraBank N.A. cut its stake in shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,680 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Medtronic by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,041,952 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $722,650,000 after acquiring an additional 39,901 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,665,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,996 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MDT shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Medtronic from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $107.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Medtronic from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Medtronic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.19.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $89.35 on Thursday. Medtronic PLC has a 1-year low of $79.29 and a 1-year high of $96.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 13.90%. The firm had revenue of $8.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Medtronic PLC will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.45%.

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.