Arizona State Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 374,338 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,237 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $30,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 127,655.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,160,371 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,100,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,149,287 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,062,316,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 33.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,374,686 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,564,508,000 after acquiring an additional 4,816,172 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 112.8% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 5,730,577 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $449,048,000 after acquiring an additional 3,037,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 9.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 23,777,808 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,863,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994,123 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on Medtronic from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.91.

Medtronic Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Medtronic stock traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $83.91. 6,796,800 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,293,785. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $68.84 and a 1 year high of $92.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.25 and its 200 day moving average is $80.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.30. The firm has a market cap of $111.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.76.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.04. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 21st. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.90%.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total value of $2,613,065.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,110,842.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.