Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 16,482 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 177,192 shares of the medical technology company's stock after buying an additional 16,482 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Medtronic were worth $14,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Medtronic in the third quarter valued at approximately $694,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its holdings in Medtronic by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 73,517 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Medtronic by 322.6% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $6,626,000 after purchasing an additional 56,178 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Medtronic by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 94,000 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $7,509,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Medtronic by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,065 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $22,212,000 after purchasing an additional 16,786 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

MDT stock traded down $2.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.27. The stock had a trading volume of 3,435,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,044,305. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.88. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $96.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MDT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.07.

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.