Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT - Free Report) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,556 shares of the medical technology company's stock after selling 20,812 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Medtronic were worth $9,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning increased its position in Medtronic by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 247,061 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $19,446,000 after buying an additional 15,305 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 7.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 122,880 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $9,672,000 after purchasing an additional 8,127 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $118,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 47.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,255 shares of the medical technology company's stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 39,421 shares of the medical technology company's stock worth $3,095,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Medtronic from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was 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 $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT stock traded down $0.48 on Wednesday, reaching $91.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,363,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,920,457. The company has a market capitalization of $117.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.83. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $83.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.83. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $93.08.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 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 return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 13.00%. Medtronic's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Medtronic's payout ratio is 85.63%.

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.