Simplicity Solutions LLC Decreases Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Simplicity Solutions LLC reduced its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 58,533 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 7,801 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $4,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MDT. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 23,777,808 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,863,229,000 after buying an additional 1,994,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Medtronic by 2.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,392,467 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,597,954,000 after purchasing an additional 508,205 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 127,655.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,160,371 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,100,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,149,287 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $1,062,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Medtronic by 2.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,622,933 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,067,493,000 after purchasing an additional 285,819 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MDT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on Medtronic from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Medtronic presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.91.

Medtronic Stock Performance

MDT stock traded down $2.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.13. The stock had a trading volume of 6,562,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,148,804. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $68.84 and a 52 week high of $92.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $106.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.76.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 22nd were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $71,001.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,684.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Medtronic news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $71,001.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total value of $2,613,065.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,110,842.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.