Arizona State Retirement System Increases Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 370,464 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $29,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter worth about $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Medtronic by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $7,833,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,873,000 after acquiring an additional 18,057 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 322.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $22,212,000 after acquiring an additional 16,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Trading Down 1.3 %

MDT stock opened at $93.09 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.57 and its 200 day moving average is $87.63. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The stock has a market cap of $119.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.11%.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MDT. Citigroup raised shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

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.