Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Trading 0.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $93.40 and last traded at $93.12. Approximately 1,402,366 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,996,077 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MDT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.11%.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medtronic

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $694,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 32.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 18,057 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Medtronic by 322.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Medtronic by 8.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Medtronic by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $22,212,000 after acquiring an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

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.