Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,201,325 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 2,496,366 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.72% of Medtronic worth $735,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Medtronic during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 145.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 344 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic by 753.8% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 333 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT traded down $2.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.92. The stock had a trading volume of 3,724,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,652,036. The firm has a market cap of $106.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.79. Medtronic plc has a 12 month low of $75.96 and a 12 month high of $96.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $90.04 and a 200 day moving average of $87.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. Equities analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given 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 3.38%. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MDT shares. Citigroup upgraded Medtronic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.