Romano Brothers AND Company Sells 3,070 Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Romano Brothers AND Company reduced its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,473 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after selling 3,070 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $2,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MDT. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Medtronic by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,154 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,878 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its position in shares of Medtronic by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 225,279 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $17,995,000 after buying an additional 7,855 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its stake in Medtronic by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 176,688 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $14,114,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in Medtronic by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 6,262 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the period. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MDT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Medtronic from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT opened at $88.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.64 and a 200 day moving average of $85.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Medtronic plc has a twelve month low of $75.96 and a twelve month high of $92.68. The firm has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.83.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.63%.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,330.28. The trade was a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.