Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Epiq Partners LLC

Epiq Partners LLC lessened its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,253 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Epiq Partners LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MDT. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Medtronic in the third quarter valued at approximately $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,873,000 after buying an additional 18,057 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Medtronic by 322.6% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,626,000 after buying an additional 56,178 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Medtronic by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $22,212,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $92.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $92.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.75 and a 200 day moving average of $85.62.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MDT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

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.