AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Acquires 3,307 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,952 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,307 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $5,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Medtronic during the 4th quarter worth about $1,229,726,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Medtronic by 54.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,409,680 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $775,169,000 after acquiring an additional 3,320,800 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the first quarter worth $259,160,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,884,412 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,691,577,000 after buying an additional 2,044,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,500,562 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $617,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769,985 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,008,261.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Medtronic stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.50. The stock had a trading volume of 915,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,259,967. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $68.84 and a 52-week high of $90.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $113.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.30.

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

Medtronic Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MDT. UBS Group raised Medtronic from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Medtronic in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Medtronic from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on Medtronic from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.92.

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.