Legal & General Group Plc Sells 2,496,366 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,201,325 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,496,366 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $735,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Medtronic in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 145.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 753.8% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 333 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Medtronic Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $82.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $90.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.93. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.11%.

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.