Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares Sold by Meyer Handelman Co.

Meyer Handelman Co. lessened its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 27.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,768 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 39,673 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.'s holdings in Medtronic were worth $8,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $5,509,155,000 after purchasing an additional 520,027 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Medtronic by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $772,727,000 after buying an additional 275,870 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 436.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $661,125,000 after buying an additional 5,975,110 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Medtronic by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,391,865 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $575,460,000 after buying an additional 145,504 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,893,720 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $530,612,000 after acquiring an additional 609,391 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,330.28. This trade represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Medtronic Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MDT traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.33. 10,223,280 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,127,224. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.83. Medtronic plc has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $92.68. The firm's fifty day moving average is $83.74 and its 200-day moving average is $85.01.

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

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Medtronic's payout ratio is 85.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 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 assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.00.

Medtronic 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.