Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) shares dropped 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $80.44 and last traded at $80.46. Approximately 1,039,900 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 6,250,425 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $103.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medtronic

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Medtronic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Medtronic by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $7,833,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Medtronic by 322.6% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after buying an additional 56,178 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter valued at $9,486,000. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Medtronic by 30.0% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 88,110 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $7,933,000 after buying an additional 20,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% 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.