Cullen Investment Group LTD. Raises Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,194 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $6,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MDT. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,509,155,000 after purchasing an additional 520,027 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $772,727,000 after acquiring an additional 275,870 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,120,554 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $560,494,000 after acquiring an additional 515,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,391,865 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $575,460,000 after acquiring an additional 145,504 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $81.68 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.96. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $92.68. The company has a market capitalization of $104.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 85.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Company 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.