Hickory Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 2,902 Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,902 shares of the medical technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 3.3% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $772,727,000 after purchasing an additional 275,870 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position 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. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Medtronic by 2.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 11.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,893,720 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $530,612,000 after acquiring an additional 609,391 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $93.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $119.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.72. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $93.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MDT shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.