Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,788 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 1,883 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $11,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MDT. Boyar Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,655 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee lifted its stake in Medtronic by 0.3% during the first quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 44,015 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $3,835,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 8.0% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 2.5% during the first quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 7,127 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total transaction of $1,601,096.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,348 shares in the company, valued at $12,008,261.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDT has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Medtronic in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Medtronic from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Medtronic from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.90.

Medtronic Price Performance

Medtronic stock traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,057,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,335,373. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $104.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $68.84 and a 1-year high of $89.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $80.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.67.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

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.