Argent Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Argent Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,328 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Medtronic accounts for about 0.9% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equity Investment Corp increased its position in Medtronic by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,341,079 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $110,478,000 after purchasing an additional 292,459 shares during the period. Loudon Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 1,467.5% in the 1st quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 47,902 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $4,175,000 after buying an additional 44,846 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,643,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,804 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $4,185,000 after buying an additional 15,265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.92.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE MDT traded up $0.39 on Friday, hitting $88.58. 7,638,207 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,288,698. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $68.84 and a 1-year high of $90.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

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

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.