Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Rating Lowered to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) was downgraded by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $85.00 price objective on the medical technology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $100.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.63% from the stock’s previous close.

MDT has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Medtronic in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.30.

Medtronic Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of MDT stock opened at $83.64 on Wednesday. Medtronic has a twelve month low of $68.84 and a twelve month high of $89.18. The company has a market capitalization of $107.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.39. 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 (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 13.47%. Medtronic’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Medtronic will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medtronic

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Medtronic by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,884,412 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $2,691,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,109 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,817,063 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,901,357,000 after buying an additional 727,931 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,229,726,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 12,634,161 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,040,802,000 after buying an additional 346,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,089,400 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $893,352,000 after buying an additional 101,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

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.