GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Sells 6,927 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC decreased its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 48.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,509 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 6,927 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC's holdings in Medtronic were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,478 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 12,161 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 14,095 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the last quarter. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 4th quarter valued at $815,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 11,849 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.00.

Medtronic Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MDT traded up $0.46 on Tuesday, hitting $90.99. The company had a trading volume of 5,193,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,546,100. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $84.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.16. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $93.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during 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%. Medtronic's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Medtronic's payout ratio is 85.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.