Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 898 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lessened its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,304 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 898 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Medtronic in the third quarter worth about $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $7,833,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in Medtronic by 322.6% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,626,000 after purchasing an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Medtronic by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $22,212,000 after purchasing an additional 16,786 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MDT shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $90.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.78 and its 200 day moving average is $86.31. The stock has a market cap of $115.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $93.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.63%.

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.