Simplicity Wealth LLC Sells 12,266 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Simplicity Wealth LLC decreased its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 73.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,410 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 12,266 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $352,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,131 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Medtronic by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,123 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its stake in Medtronic by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,743 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its stake in Medtronic by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 36,303 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,900,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MDT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MDT opened at $93.75 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.62 and its 200-day moving average is $87.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.90. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $96.25. The firm has a market cap of $120.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 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%. Equities analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.11%.

Medtronic 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.