Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Trading Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) shares rose 0.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $85.86 and last traded at $85.77. Approximately 1,481,203 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 7,789,946 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.63 and a 200 day moving average of $85.03. 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 $113.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medtronic

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the second quarter worth about $239,000. Wealth Alliance grew its position in Medtronic by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 5,353 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Medtronic by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 129,556 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $10,433,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 30.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,161,329 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $91,809,000 after buying an additional 270,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 13.1% during the second quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,374 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after buying an additional 2,706 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

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.