Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Stock Price Down 1.6% – Time to Sell?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) dropped 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $79.98 and last traded at $80.53. Approximately 1,458,951 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 6,618,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Trading Down 1.5 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Medtronic

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Medtronic by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,203,387 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $9,921,367,000 after purchasing an additional 754,395 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,203,685 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,652,310,000 after buying an additional 571,700 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Medtronic by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,056,217 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,155,085,000 after acquiring an additional 574,055 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Medtronic by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,443,640 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,473,278,000 after acquiring an additional 372,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Medtronic by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,445,284 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,233,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333,600 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.