Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 2,550 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 81.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 600 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 2,550 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $54,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Medtronic during the 1st quarter valued at $259,160,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,884,412 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $2,691,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,109 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 1,195.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,837,600 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $144,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,800 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Medtronic by 8,908.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,415 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $116,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284,002 shares during the period. Finally, Troy Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Medtronic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $85,440,000. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Medtronic from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Medtronic from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.36.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE MDT opened at $87.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.46. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $69.32 and a 12-month high of $92.68. The firm has a market cap of $112.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Medtronic’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.59%.

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.