Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Trading 0.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) rose 0.3% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $95.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Medtronic traded as high as $87.22 and last traded at $87.27. Approximately 784,492 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 7,324,802 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. 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. Barclays raised their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Medtronic from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 12,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,119,330.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,110. This represents a 23.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 8,908.6% during the third 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. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 3.5% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,076 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 58,474 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 8,568 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Medtronic Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 12.83%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

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.