Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.99 Million Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 97.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,934 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,297 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 21.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,839,569 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $165,616,000 after purchasing an additional 319,256 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in Medtronic by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 36,801 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter valued at $522,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 682.9% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 23,737 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 20,705 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Medtronic by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,008,633 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $90,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,886 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE MDT opened at $87.62 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $112.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $96.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.99.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MDT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.