Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,614 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,955 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter worth $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter worth $27,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Medtronic Stock Down 0.4 %

MDT stock opened at $92.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $118.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.83. 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 plc has a twelve month low of $75.96 and a twelve month high of $93.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.73.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced 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. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Medtronic’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.63%.

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.