Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 3,200 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $5,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter worth about $27,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new position in Medtronic in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 145.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MDT shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT opened at $91.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $117.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. Medtronic plc has a 12 month low of $75.96 and a 12 month high of $93.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.65.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.