Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Shares Down 1% – Time to Sell?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)’s share price was down 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $91.25 and last traded at $91.31. Approximately 2,783,527 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 6,023,485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upgraded Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $117.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $90.12 and its 200 day moving average is $88.02.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. Analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Medtronic

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MDT. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $919,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 477,719 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $38,160,000 after purchasing an additional 116,310 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at $2,599,000. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 10,009 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 42,159 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.