Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,838 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 436.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $661,125,000 after acquiring an additional 5,975,110 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Medtronic by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,546,819 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $406,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,483 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Medtronic by 1,195.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,837,600 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $144,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,800 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 58.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,850,914 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $346,705,000 after buying an additional 1,420,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 8,908.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,415 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $116,896,000 after buying an additional 1,284,002 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Medtronic Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MDT opened at $85.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.74 and a 200 day moving average of $85.01. The company has a market cap of $109.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.83. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $92.68. 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 (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS 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 paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.63%.

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.