Argent Advisors Inc. Acquires 820 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Argent Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,717 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Medtronic accounts for approximately 0.9% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MDT. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Medtronic during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Medtronic during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Medtronic by 145.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Medtronic by 753.8% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 333 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,119,330.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,110. This trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDT opened at $93.30 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. As a group, research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.