Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 583,898 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 33,237 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Medtronic were worth $46,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Medtronic by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 177,192 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $14,154,000 after purchasing an additional 16,482 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Medtronic by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 429,310 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $34,293,000 after buying an additional 9,395 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC bought a new stake in Medtronic in the fourth quarter worth $293,000. Amundi lifted its position in Medtronic by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,883,584 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $403,773,000 after buying an additional 31,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 19,473 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $1,569,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Medtronic from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE MDT traded down $2.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.21. 2,223,028 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,039,419. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $96.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $116.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $88.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.88.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Medtronic's payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

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.