Versant Capital Management Inc Increases Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,788 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Medtronic by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,731,367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $5,509,155,000 after purchasing an additional 520,027 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 3.3% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,582,993 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $772,727,000 after buying an additional 275,870 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 436.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $661,125,000 after acquiring an additional 5,975,110 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Medtronic by 7.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,120,554 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $560,494,000 after acquiring an additional 515,751 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Medtronic by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,391,865 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $575,460,000 after acquiring an additional 145,504 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Medtronic Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Medtronic stock opened at $80.95 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.83. Medtronic plc has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $92.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The medical technology company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is 85.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MDT. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Medtronic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Medtronic from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Medtronic from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

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.