Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 129,897 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,288 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $10,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,509,155,000 after buying an additional 520,027 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at $852,732,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 3.3% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $772,727,000 after purchasing an additional 275,870 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,051 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $639,204,000 after purchasing an additional 134,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $661,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,975,110 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDT opened at $91.58 on Thursday. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $96.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.91. The company has a market cap of $117.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

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.