Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Reduces Stock Holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 188,403 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 9,223 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $16,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 460 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 479 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medtronic Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Medtronic stock opened at $79.99 on Tuesday. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $68.84 and a fifty-two week high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $102.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.79.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The medical technology company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 11.36%. Medtronic’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This is a positive change from Medtronic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Medtronic’s payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Geoffrey Martha sold 19,113 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total value of $1,601,096.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,348 shares in the company, valued at $12,008,261.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MDT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Medtronic from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Medtronic in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “sell” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.90.

Medtronic Company 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.