Stratos Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Stratos Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,904 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,267 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Medtronic during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the third quarter valued at $30,000. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MDT shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE:MDT opened at $90.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $93.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.63%.

Medtronic 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.