Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 14,566,604 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,163,580,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 6.9% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,182 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,839,569 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $165,616,000 after purchasing an additional 319,256 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Medtronic by 31.0% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 380,554 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $34,261,000 after purchasing an additional 90,111 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 279.5% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,672 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 15,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its holdings in Medtronic by 0.4% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 35,375 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $3,185,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value 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 $3,688,110. The trade was a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

MDT opened at $89.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $96.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid 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 3.15%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

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.