abrdn plc Buys 519,270 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

abrdn plc lifted its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,667,959 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 519,270 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $137,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MDT. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Medtronic by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 7,814 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 290,901 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $23,964,000 after purchasing an additional 38,371 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Medtronic by 97.9% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 17,578 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,000. Finally, HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MDT traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.48. The stock had a trading volume of 6,756,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,961,242. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $68.84 and a 1 year high of $92.02. The firm has a market cap of $105.54 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.93 and its 200 day moving average is $81.01.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The business had revenue of $8.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total value of $2,613,065.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,110,842.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total value of $2,613,065.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,110,842.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $71,001.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.91.

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.