Affiance Financial LLC Sells 1,231 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Affiance Financial LLC cut its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 28.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,173 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 1,231 shares during the quarter. Affiance Financial LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Medtronic by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 23,777,808 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,863,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at $1,229,726,000. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Medtronic by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 12,634,161 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,040,802,000 after acquiring an additional 346,641 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Medtronic by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,089,400 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $893,352,000 after acquiring an additional 101,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Medtronic by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,297,135 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $806,883,000 after acquiring an additional 649,367 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MDT shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Medtronic from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Medtronic from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Medtronic from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medtronic news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $71,001.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,684.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $71,001.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,684.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total value of $1,601,096.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,008,261.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Medtronic stock traded down $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $79.50. 292,593 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,249,898. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $68.84 and a one year high of $91.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $81.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.56. The company has a market capitalization of $101.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.83.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.01. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.36%.

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.