Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 435.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 224,520 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 182,561 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $18,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MDT. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 425.0% during the third quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 315 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 316,643 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 236,064 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Medtronic by 317.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 367 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. 82.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $71,001.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total transaction of $2,613,065.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,110,842.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Marinaro sold 854 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $71,001.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,684.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Medtronic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDT traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.92. 6,221,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,241,826. The firm has a market cap of $107.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.78. Medtronic plc has a twelve month low of $68.84 and a twelve month high of $92.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.04. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Medtronic’s payout ratio is currently 87.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MDT. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Medtronic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.91.

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.