Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Shares Up 0.5% - Should You Buy?

Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $88.00 and last traded at $87.59. 2,332,438 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 7,801,272 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MDT. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Medtronic from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.00.

Medtronic Price Performance

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $83.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.63%.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Medtronic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MDT. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter valued at approximately $694,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Medtronic by 19.2% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,000 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $7,833,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted 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 worth $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Medtronic by 322.6% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,593 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $6,626,000 after buying an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,486,000. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.