Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,990 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $7,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter worth $27,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter worth $33,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in Medtronic by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 460 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total transaction of $1,601,096.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,008,261.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of Medtronic stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.70. The company had a trading volume of 4,574,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,127,295. The stock has a market cap of $100.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.87. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $68.84 and a 12-month high of $91.00.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. Medtronic’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This is an increase from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is 101.82%.

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.