Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) was up 0.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $84.33 and last traded at $84.27. Approximately 672,321 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 6,236,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Medtronic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.27.

Medtronic Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $107.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.01.

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

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the 3rd quarter worth $694,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter valued at about $415,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 19.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 36,500 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $3,286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,993 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 7.5% in the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 3,013 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 1.2% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 66,738 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $6,008,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.