Augustine Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Augustine Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,717 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 764 shares during the period. Medtronic makes up 0.8% of Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MDT. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Medtronic in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the third quarter worth $27,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 145.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medtronic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT opened at $91.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.56. Medtronic plc has a twelve month low of $75.96 and a twelve month high of $93.08. 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 (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for 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%. Medtronic’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.