Westchester Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Westchester Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,133 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Medtronic comprises approximately 1.9% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $7,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Medtronic by 1.2% during the third quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 9,558 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6,417 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Medtronic by 3.3% in the third quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,741 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Medtronic by 2.0% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,024 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abbrea Capital LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 2.5% during the first quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MDT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Medtronic from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Medtronic from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.36.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT stock opened at $87.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Medtronic plc has a twelve month low of $69.32 and a twelve month high of $92.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.46.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.06% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.59%.

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.