Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 886,302 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 146,581 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $70,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,839,569 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $165,616,000 after buying an additional 319,256 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter worth about $522,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 682.9% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 23,737 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 20,705 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 1,793.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 568 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Medtronic in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,110. The trade was a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE:MDT opened at $89.92 on Tuesday. 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 cap of $115.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.99. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS 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 company had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.