HM Payson & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

HM Payson & Co. lessened its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,345 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 1,355 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $1,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $694,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 322.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after purchasing an additional 56,178 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 94,000 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $7,509,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $22,212,000 after purchasing an additional 16,786 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of Medtronic stock opened at $94.58 on Friday. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $121.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.80.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. Research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s payout ratio is presently 85.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.