Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Increases Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 382,890 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 11,216 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $30,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Medtronic by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,509,155,000 after buying an additional 520,027 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $772,727,000 after purchasing an additional 275,870 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $661,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,975,110 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,893,720 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $530,612,000 after purchasing an additional 609,391 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 5,842,020 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $525,960,000 after purchasing an additional 164,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Price Performance

NYSE:MDT opened at $90.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $115.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.24. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $93.08.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. Research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MDT shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Medtronic has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

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.